I refer to your lead story (News Shopper, January 10) about bus safety. From my own experience as a regular bus passenger in the area in recent years, it is miraculous accidents like this are not more frequent.

To judge by the speed at which buses are often driven, I wonder whether their drivers were trained at Brands Hatch. Moving about in a bus between stops is generally hazardous, because of jerky handling.

I have recently seen drivers smoking at the wheel, with one foot perched on a ledge, driving with one hand and chatting, while driving, to an off-duty colleague.

To be fair, bus services have improved greatly and not before time. But I wonder whether the operators are paying enough attention to drivers training and operating discipline?

I understand driver recruitment throughout the London area is difficult and operators must consequently make do with what they can get. This, however, is no valid reason for not putting passenger safety first.

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