Hunter Valley wedding bus crash: Parents of one victim reveal they had campaigned over bus safety in the area days before their daughter was killed
- Parents of Hunter Valley bus crash victim speak out
- Mullen family has long campaigned over bus safety
The parents of one of the victims of the Hunter Valley wedding bus crash have revealed they complained about bus safety in the area just days before the tragedy.
Ten people were killed and 25 injured when a bus overturned at Greta, NSW on June 11, while taking guests from a wedding at Lovedale to Singleton.
‘The unfairness in that we were aware of bus safety and then to lose Bec and her friends in this way is just a tragic irony,’ Matt Mullen said of his daughter, who was a doctor.
Before the disaster, he and his wife Leanne had complained many times to the NSW transport department about safety on school buses, including the week before.
‘We’ve been having long-term discussions with the local bus safety company about their safety standards over years, not months, prior to the accident,’ Mr Mullen said.
The parents of one of the victims (Bec Mullen, picured) of the Hunter Valley wedding bus crash have revealed they complained over bus safety in the area just days before the tragedy
The Mullens (mum Leanne is pictured) want Bec’s death to finally lead to changes they say are desperately needed
The family said their youngest daughter Erin was among children forced to stand or sit on the floor with no access to seatbelts on a school bus run.
They made their complaints to Transport for NSW and Hunter Valley Buses – the company that runs school buses in the area – over their safety concerns.
‘They’re archaic, they’re way behind systems that are in place to transport cattle, groceries,’ Mr Mullen told 7News.
He called for immediate changes to ‘driver monitoring, GPS surveillance (and) seat belts’ and said that up until now ‘We’ve just been stonewalled by the bus company in, to be honest, quite a rude manner.’
The Mullens want Bec’s death to finally lead to the changes they believe are desperately needed on school bus services.
‘I think as a society, looking after our kids has to be our number one priority,’ Mrs Mullen said.
While Hunter Valley Buses did not operate the bus involved in the deadly crash on June 11, it is reported that of the 290 buses it operates, only one is fitted with seatbelts.
A shortage of drivers has cut the number of school bus services, leading to some overcrowding.
NSW Roads Minister John Graham said the seatbelt issue was ‘being dealt with, with a bus review’.
The Mullens hope their daughter’s ‘love and kindness’ will drive change to protect children in the community.
‘Bec loved children, absolutely adored them. She’d want us to protect them,’ Mr Mullen said.
‘We pray to God no other family has to endure anything like we’re enduring.’
‘The unfairness in that we were aware of bus safety and then to lose Bec and her friends in this way is just a tragic irony,’ Matt Mullen (pictured left, with his wife Leanne) said of their doctor daughter
