Bendy bus drivers flag absent safety features

A number of Arriva bendy buses lack working safety features designed to minimise the risk of passengers falling under the vehicle, two drivers have said. Driver interlocks, which automatically prevent the snaking buses from moving if doors are open, are “almost always” switched off, according to a former Arriva driver. The driver also claims that cameras aimed at buses’ middle and rear doors are often not working and sometimes missing, meaning that drivers sometimes cannot tell whether doors are still open when their buses start moving. “It’s a tragedy waiting to happen and nobody seems to care,” Rosie, a former Arriva driver, said. Rosie, who does not wish to be identified, resigned shortly after speaking to The Times over safety concerns and working conditions. A recently retired bus driver and instructor, Gary Simmonds, who drove bendy buses in London until their removal in 2011, said he was “horrified” by the number of bendy buses in Malta missing the safety features. Any bus without working door interlocks or cameras “would not be allowed on UK roads”, he said. An Arriva spokesman said missing door cameras were sometimes out for repair and insisted that such devices could...