CPC Bus: Case Study Practice.

Dermot drives a kneeling single-decker on a busy city route. He took the bus over from a colleague at a mid-morning shift change, and because the vehicle was already warm and running he told himself the checks were done. He gave the bus only a quick glance at the tyres and lights instead of a full walk-around check, and he forgot to set the tachograph mode switch before starting on the bus.

At the second stop a passenger in a wheelchair was waiting. Dermot pulled the bus in close to the kerb, applied the parking brake and switched on his hazard lights. In his hurry he lowered the ramp first and then used the kneeling facility. Two shopping bags had been left on the floor of the docking area by other passengers, so Dermot steered the wheelchair around the bags into position. He then returned to his cab and drove off, forgetting to apply the wheelchair's brake.

By late morning the bus was busy, with 40 passengers on board, many of them carrying shopping. Dermot worked out roughly how much weight he was already carrying before deciding whether he could take a waiting school group at the next stop.

An elderly woman boarded and paid her fare. Dermot signalled and pulled away while she was still walking down the aisle, and she stumbled against a seat rail. Further on, temporary traffic lights at roadworks appeared around a bend sooner than Dermot expected and he had to brake hard, sending a shopping bag sliding up the aisle.

Near the end of the route Dermot was stopped at a Garda checkpoint. The Garda asked for his licence, his CPC card and his driver records. Walking around the bus, the Garda pointed out that the nearside rear tyre was worn almost smooth across the centre of the tread. A vehicle inspector was called to examine the bus, and the bus was detained until the tyre had been replaced. Dermot's employer had to arrange a replacement bus and passengers were left waiting at stops along the route.

Tomasz drives a 53-seat coach that is not designed to carry standing passengers. This morning's job was an airport transfer, and he started driving at 05:00. The luggage went into the underfloor lockers, but one passenger insisted on keeping a heavy holdall with him and it was left standing in the aisle beside his seat.

Roadworks on the way out of town cost twenty minutes, and once on the motorway Tomasz pushed the coach up to 110 km/h to make up the time. By 09:30 he had still not taken a break.

The steering wheel began to vibrate, and moments later the front nearside tyre burst. Tomasz took a firm hold of the steering wheel with both hands, checked his mirrors, signalled left and steered a steady course onto the hard shoulder. Once stopped, he switched on the hazard warning lights, told the passengers what had happened and asked them to remain seated, put on his high-visibility vest, placed his warning triangle well behind the coach and phoned his base.

One passenger stood up and demanded to be let off to stretch his legs and smoke. Tomasz explained in a calm and reassuring manner that the traffic alongside was passing at motorway speed and that for everyone's safety the passengers needed to stay on board. The man grumbled but sat back down.

While waiting, Tomasz counted the passengers, noting one wheelchair user, and passed the numbers to his base so the right size of replacement coach could be sent. When it arrived he kept the passengers informed, gave precise instructions, escorted them across to the replacement coach, helped the wheelchair user off last and transferred the luggage himself.

Aoife drives a double-decker city bus that is designed to carry standing passengers. Her afternoon run carries commuters and a large group of schoolchildren, and by four o'clock she had a full load of seated passengers and several people standing. On the dual carriageway section of her route she held the bus at 65 km/h while cars passed her at 100 km/h.

Turning left off the carriageway, Aoife took the corner faster than she meant to and the standing passengers were pushed over to the right, grabbing the rails. She checked the lower saloon in her mirror but did not check the upper deck.

A few stops later a passenger reported a smell of burning from the back of the bus. Aoife pulled in and stopped, told the passengers what she was doing, operated the master switch and the fuel cut-off, and asked everyone to leave through the front door. She then took one of the bus's two dry chemical fire extinguishers and dealt with a smouldering rear tyre before it could take hold.

Checking the empty bus afterwards, Aoife found a rucksack with no owner on the back seat. She did not touch it, and contacted her depot to report it in case it was a security threat. It turned out to belong to one of the schoolchildren.

The bus was cleared to continue, but a diversion took Aoife off her usual route towards a stone arch bridge with a height restriction sign of 4.4 metres. She knew her bus stood 4.2 metres tall, and she remembered that on an arch bridge the signed height is only available over the width of the arch marked by the goalpost markings, so she slowed right down and kept the bus inside the goalposts as she passed under. Back at the depot she recorded the tyre fault in the company's fault reporting book.