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M53 motorway coach crash

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Crash on the Wirral in 2023
M53 motorway coach crash
A Carvers Coach similar to the vehicle that was involved in the accident
Details
Date29 September 2023 (2023-09-29)
c. 08:00 BST
LocationNear junction 5 on the M53 motorway
CountryEngland
OperatorCarvers Coaches
ServiceW3 school bus route
Incident typeTraffic collision
CauseDriver collapsing
Statistics
Vehicles1
Passengers58
Deaths2
Injured17
DamageCoach destroyed

On 29 September 2023, a coach operating a school bus route overturned on the M53 motorway in The Wirral in north-western England, killing the driver and a 15-year-old passenger.

Background

The coach, operated by Carvers Coaches, was operating the W3 school bus route from Bache, Chester to West Kirby Grammar School and Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby. The W3 route forms part of the W series of school services which, together with the C series and A1 route, are jointly-provided by the two schools themselves rather than as the responsibility of the county's transport authority, Merseytravel. The W3 along with two other routes of the W series, W4 and W5 (also Carvers Coaches), were travelling together in convoy on the M53 motorway at the time of the crash, and students on-board the other coaches witnessed the crash of the W3. Merseyside Police announced that all students who witnessed or were involved in the incident would be provided with specialist trauma support.

Crash

The crash was captured by on-board cameras on the bus which, according to Andre Rebello, the senior coroner for Liverpool and the Wirral, showed the driver collapsing at the wheel. At the same time, the bus veered to the left, leaving the carriageway and climbing an embankment before coming to rest on its side.

The crash killed two people – 40-year old coach driver Stephen Shrimpton and 15-year-old student Jessica Baker. Preliminary investigations suggested that Shrimpton suffered a medical episode while at the wheel and that Baker was partially ejected from the vehicle and died from head injuries sustained from the wreckage landing on her. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Aftermath

In March 2024, a coroner revealed that Shrimpton had died from natural causes. This was said to have been the sole cause of the crash.

References

  1. "Transport & Travel (W series)". Calday Grange Grammar School. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  2. "Merseyside: Girl, 14, and driver killed after school bus overturns on motorway". Sky News. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  3. "W series timetables" (PDF). Calday Grange Grammar School. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  4. "Transport & Travel". Calday Grange Grammar School. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  5. Burrell, Bill McLoughlin, Miriam (29 September 2023). "Girl, 15, killed as school bus overturns on M53 motorway is named". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Hurst, Pat (5 October 2023). "Driver seen "slumped" on CCTV before fatal school bus crash, inquest hears". The Independent. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  7. "M53 bus crash student was warm-hearted and wonderful, family says". BBC News. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  8. "Driver in M53 school bus crash died of natural causes". BBC News. 2024-03-15. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  9. "Driver of school bus that crashed on M53 in the Wirral died of natural causes, says coroner". Sky News. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
Road incidents in the United Kingdom
Location and date
‡ indicates road incident resulting in at least 10 deaths
§ indicates the deadliest road incident in British history
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