Dozy bus driver stuck on train tracks captured on CCTV

9:00am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News Exclusive By James Cox

Dozy bus driver stuck on train tracks captured on CCTV Dozy bus driver stuck on train tracks captured on CCTV

A BUS driver, responsible for school runs, has been fined for running the gauntlet at a level crossing.

Marcus Lamm, 21, tried to squeeze through the closing barriers across the railway in Manningtree.

But he got stuck behind a slow tractor and did not make it across before the barriers closed, trapping him on the tracks.

The First bus was empty, apart from the driver, but had only just dropped off children from local schools.

Lamm, of Willow Way, Jaywick, admitted driving without due care and attention when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The court heard how his driving blunder was spotted on CCTV and the operator was able to raise the gates before a train came.

He was handed a £300 fine, £100 court costs and had nine points on his licence.

Lamm lost his job but is now a driver for another company.

Full court report and more pictures in Wednesday's Gazette.

Comments(29)

SOMETHING2SAY says...
9:22am Wed 31 Oct 12

PATHETIC....Driving for another company ??? After this shambollic error...and 9 points ??..How is this allowed ?? .I dont think a 21 year old has enough road experience....especi
ally this chap !!! If the " new " company he works for, does schoo lruns...i think the parents , teachers , school should petition. Agree ????

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mirokou says...
9:37am Wed 31 Oct 12

please let me know the name of the other company he drives for, firstly why would they employ such a high risk driver and secondly , so my children aren't put at risk by him

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SOMETHING2SAY says...
9:53am Wed 31 Oct 12

I very much hope someone will name names !

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totallyfootball says...
11:42am Wed 31 Oct 12

Fined, should be jailed and ganned for ten years, brainless idiot.

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totallyfootball says...
11:43am Wed 31 Oct 12

Sorry meant banned, don't know what ganned is? Going for a lie down, on a level crossing.

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romantic says...
11:53am Wed 31 Oct 12

Holy smoke, that could have been disastrous. Golden rule, of course, is not to drive onto a crossing until you know it´s clear the other side. There are flashing lights and sirens before the barriers come down, which this driver must have been aware of.

Really stupid thing to do, for the sake of saving a few minutes, and lucky for him that somebody was watching their monitors. He got away with it, but I really do hope that he will learn from this and take on board how bad it actually could have been.

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Mr Honest says...
11:58am Wed 31 Oct 12

He works for New Horizon Travel based in Frating. The Company obviously didnt get a reference for him from first. He should have been banned for years. NHT have to get rid of him anyway surely. A 21 year old with 9 points? Dont use that company for gods sake, you might end up dead if he is driving!

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ColchesterBelgian says...
12:20pm Wed 31 Oct 12

What is to say this moron wouldn't have taken this risk with children? He should never be allowed to drive passengers again.

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icecoolmark says...
1:11pm Wed 31 Oct 12

He wouldn't have got a reference from 'First' as it's against the law to issue a bad reference... A stupid law, almost as bad as allowing a 21 year old to drive a double decker bus with school children on it... I wouldn't let my kids on a bus witha 21 year old at the wheel, let alone a lunatic like this idiot!

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blue bird says...
4:07pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Omg that is totally shocking bad driving. Nht do mainly school runs so he's driving children around. That's if it is that company he's working for. I wouldn't let my child on his bus

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concernedrefuture says...
4:08pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Quote " Golden rule, of course, is not to drive onto a crossing until you know it´s clear the other side." How many of you comment makers have been 'caught' in a yellow box because the exit wasn't clear? Not that I don't think this driver was silly, but we can all makes mistakes.

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concernedrefuture says...
4:11pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Amendment #1
for 'makes' read 'make'!

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genhol says...
4:28pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Do you not think though he would have to show his licence to his employer do they are probably well aware

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The Yellow Peril says...
4:35pm Wed 31 Oct 12

Using the word "dozy" in the title of this article rather trivialises the seriousness of the matter though doesn't it? It's a bit like saying "a dozy knife-wielding man stabbed his victim in the leg"

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romantic says...
4:51pm Wed 31 Oct 12

concernedrefuture wrote:
Quote " Golden rule, of course, is not to drive onto a crossing until you know it´s clear the other side." How many of you comment makers have been 'caught' in a yellow box because the exit wasn't clear? Not that I don't think this driver was silly, but we can all makes mistakes.
Of course, most drivers have done that, and I´m no different, but in all probability the worse that will happen is you´ll block lots of other angry drivers.

The thing is that the barriers don´t suddenly come down unannounced. There are flashing lights and alarms first, precisely so that people can get across before the barriers drop. Quite probably, the tractor should have stopped as well.

There is silly and a mistake, and there is alarmingly dangerous. The fact that this driver is prepared to take a risk of this sort is the scary thing. If he is prepared to risk it once, the likelihood is he will drive recklessly with a bus full of passengers too.

He was very lucky to get away with it, in reality. I´m sure not every crossing is monitored by CCTV, it is pure luck that somebody saw the situation and acted quickly. A fast train hitting that bus full on would certainly have killed him and may even have disrailed the train.

If he is driving for NHT, they should be making sure he drives safely. Nobody likes a witch-hunt, but a bus can do a lot of damage, and next time it could be you or me coming round the corner while he steams along the other way.

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Grabber says...
4:56pm Wed 31 Oct 12

He should of had his PSV removed from his licence and ordered to retake a test, No way will my children be on a bus driven by him he is only just out of nappies himself !

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Ontheball says...
6:29pm Wed 31 Oct 12

He should also have been charged with endangering persons on the railway. No way should he be let anywhere near a public service vehicle!

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Im_Like_HELLO says...
6:34pm Wed 31 Oct 12

I'm not sure he's "dozy", "arrogant" would be a better word - he thought he could get through in time and found out that he couldn't.

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SOMETHING2SAY says...
10:27pm Wed 31 Oct 12

so....do you all agree with my earlier blog ??? have this thoughtless , incompetant, removed from services ???

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EssexBoy1956 says...
7:17am Thu 1 Nov 12

Well at least this muppet was actually going over the level crossing unlike his colleague a few weeks ago who was trying (unsuccessfully) to squeeze under the adjacent bridge!
I'm absolutely amazed that it's possible for a 21 year old to get a licence to carry passengers. If the government are worried about 17 year olds being a danger on the roads (as apparently they are) then they should surely be worried about drivers carrying passengers, especially children, without a lot more on-road experience. Sounds like a petition to our new Police Commissioner would be in order.

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*bubbles2 says...
8:21am Thu 1 Nov 12

This bloke was silly for what he done and your right he should not be driving other people/kids around, but its unfair to save all 21 year olds cant drive a bus, i know a 21 one year old who does it and is very good at his job he drives some the busses better than what some older people drive them, not every young person drives in a silly way,

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EssexBoy1956 says...
9:06am Thu 1 Nov 12

Fair point bubbles..., and you could say the same about 17 year-olds' driving. There are indeed some very sensible young drivers around, but the real point is that until you have a great deal of experience, you really have no understanding of the consequences of your actions. This driver probably was "dozy" in as much as he just wasn't thinking about the consequence of being stuck on the crossing when he went through the red light. Perhaps if he had a few more years' experience (and I don't just mean driving experience) under his belt, he would have some knowledge of the danger in which he was putting himself and potentially a number of other people. What harm would there be in raising the age for a PSV licence to say, 30?

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*bubbles2 says...
10:05am Thu 1 Nov 12

my other half is doing his test and he is 25 and i good driver, at the end the day it should be down to the company to say if the drivers they are taking on are good enough, they should do a private test for every employer and them to say if they think they are good enough, the bloke who done this clearly thougth he could get passed and he messed up big time, if he does anyting else wrong while driving he will loose his licence and job, which i agree with i think he should had a few month ban to make him relise how much he needs his licence to work, small fines mean nothing it just money at the end the day, but no liecene for him means no money,

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SOMETHING2SAY says...
10:42am Thu 1 Nov 12

Just spoken to the new company he works for and have been told he is no longer on any driving duties...RESULT !

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Justice79 says...
1:43pm Thu 1 Nov 12

He seems to have really bad driving skills, it must be some comfort to him that this is apparently a prerequisite to drive for Panther Cabs perhaps he should give them a call.

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OrangeChris says...
11:20am Sat 3 Nov 12

I agree with the above comments about how stupid he was to drive over the crossing!! Clearly just wanted to get off home a few mins early so tried to cut across and subsequently failed. Surely this counts as 'dangerous driving', or if he claims he didn't see/hear the warning signals, it would be 'driving without due care and attention'.

Those saying that 21 is to young to drive a bus are wrong, all bus drivers have to pass the same tests so just because of their age doesn't make them less safe than a 41 year old bus driver.

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EssexBoy1956 says...
2:33pm Sat 3 Nov 12

OrangeChris wrote:
I agree with the above comments about how stupid he was to drive over the crossing!! Clearly just wanted to get off home a few mins early so tried to cut across and subsequently failed. Surely this counts as 'dangerous driving', or if he claims he didn't see/hear the warning signals, it would be 'driving without due care and attention'.

Those saying that 21 is to young to drive a bus are wrong, all bus drivers have to pass the same tests so just because of their age doesn't make them less safe than a 41 year old bus driver.
How ridiculous. If you apply the logic that just because somebody has passed a test, a 21 year old is as safe as a 41 year old, then that would apply in the case of a 17 year old and a 37 year old. Look at the stats mate. Ask the insurance companies.

The point is that it's experience that makes a driver safer not passing a test.

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EssexBoy1956 says...
2:37pm Sat 3 Nov 12

OrangeChris wrote:
I agree with the above comments about how stupid he was to drive over the crossing!! Clearly just wanted to get off home a few mins early so tried to cut across and subsequently failed. Surely this counts as 'dangerous driving', or if he claims he didn't see/hear the warning signals, it would be 'driving without due care and attention'.

Those saying that 21 is to young to drive a bus are wrong, all bus drivers have to pass the same tests so just because of their age doesn't make them less safe than a 41 year old bus driver.
duh, so that would be why he was done for driving without due care and attention, then! Wake up mate!

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*bubbles2 says...
8:46am Mon 5 Nov 12

It does not matter what age you are older people still crash they still speed drive with no seat belts or on there phone over take in silly places. so soon as you hit a age your driving is perfect!!! hmmm some how i think not,

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