At around 17:00 BST on 11 April 2004, a double-decker bus was involved in a collision with a car and a number of pedestrians outside the Fantasy Islandamusement park on Sea Lane in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire. The accident killed five pedestrians and injured six more. The bus, a 2001 Volvo B7TL double-decker operated by Lincolnshire RoadCar, was operating a scheduled passenger service between Skegness and Chapel St Leonards when the driver, 50-year-old Stephen Topasna, lost control of the vehicle on Sea Lane in Ingoldmells. The bus veered onto the pavement, striking a number of pedestrians, before swerving back into the road coming to a stop after colliding with a BMW car just beyond a pelican crossing, where it had struck another group of pedestrians. With five fatalities, the Ingoldmells bus crash was the worst accident involving a bus in the United Kingdom since the M40 minibus crash in 1993. The accident remained the deadliest bus accident in the United Kingdom during the 21st century until it was surpassed by the 2017 M1 motorway crash involving a minibus.
Background
The bus involved in the accident was a three-year-old Volvo B7TL double-decker with East Lancs Vyking bodywork, operated by Lincolnshire RoadCar. The bus was registered Y903 OTL and carried fleet number 903 with Lincolnshire RoadCar. Following the crash, the bus was repaired and re-entered service, re-registered to Y926 OJL and given new fleet number 900 to hide its identity. Following Stagecoach's acquisition of Lincolnshire RoadCar in 2005, the bus gained fleet number 16900 in the Stagecoach national fleet, remaining in service with Stagecoach in Lincolnshire at their Scunthorpe depot until 2014, when it was withdrawn and scrapped due to damage from another road traffic accident earlier that year. At the time of the accident, the bus was operating on route 1 from Skegness to Chapel St Leonards, via Ingoldmells.
Accident
The bus was being driven along Sea Lane in Ingoldmells, close to the Fantasy Island amusement park, at the time of the accident. Immediately prior to the accident, driver Stephen Topasna pulled the bus into a bus stop in a lay-by by the side of the road in order to pick up passengers. The accident occurred as Topasna accelerated the bus away from the lay-by; due to pedal confusion, Topasna unintentionally caused the bus to accelerate instead of brake after pulling back into the road, leading to a loss of control. The bus continued to accelerate for 22 seconds after pulling away from the bus stop, reaching a top speed of 41 mph before losing control and mounting the pavement. Passengers on board reported hearing the driver shouting that the bus had no brakes. After losing control, the bus struck a number of pedestrians on the pavement, before veering back into the road. The bus then struck a BMW car in the road, before failing to stop in time for a pelican crossing, striking a group of pedestrians on the crossing before finally coming to a halt 176 metres after setting off. The accident occurred on the busiest day of the year for the amusement park, and the area was busy with pedestrians. In total, the accident killed five pedestrians and injured six more, including two critically. Two people remained trapped underneath the bus for around half an hour after it came to a halt. Three people were pronounced dead immediately at the site of the accident; a fourth died several hours later, while a fifth pedestrian died the following day in hospital.
Aftermath
The pedestrians who were killed in the accident were later named as 37-year-old Joanne Warren and her two sons, 5-year-old Jacob Warren and 4-month-old Leyton Warren, all from Leicester; and husband and wife 33-year-old Richard Rhodes and 30-year-old Paula Rhodes from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Inquests into the accident were opened on 19 April. Following the accident, the section of Sea Lane on which the accident took place was pedestrianised, following numerous protests and a petition signed by 5,000 people. However, the pedestrianisation of Sea Lane was later criticised for splitting Ingoldmells in half, causing further traffic problems. A memorial stone to the victims of the accident was unveiled on 25 June 2004.
Charges against Lincolnshire RoadCar
Bus company Lincolnshire RoadCar appeared in court in connection with the accident in February 2005, potentially facing a charge of operating a vehicle with defective brakes, which the company denied. On 8 August, Lincolnshire RoadCar were found guilty of breaching safety provisions for allowing the driver to operate the vehicle type without proper training and for operating a vehicle with faulty brakes; they were fined £2,000 at Skegness Magistrates Court. The bus had been serviced two days prior to the accident, and an engineer spotted and rectified three faults with the braking system; however, they failed to rectify a fault with the brake slack adjuster. However, it was also confirmed that the faulty brakes had not caused the accident and would have had only a minor effect on the outcome of the accident. Lincolnshire RoadCar initially planned to appeal the verdict. However, the appeal was dropped in October 2005.
Charges
Topasna was later charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of driving without due care and attention. Topasna admitted the charges upon appearance at Lincoln Crown Court on 18 October 2005, stating that he had mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake in a case of pedal confusion. On 9 November, Topasna was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the accident.
