The trial is currently in progress of the drivers involved in the fatal M62 minibus crash involving a hen party.

It appears that the circumstances are similar to the the crash on the M5 a couple of years ago. In both cases the passenger vehicle had a mechanical fault, the driver had then elected to continue his journey in a live lane of the motorway at a speed of approximately 5MPH, with the result that his vehicle was hit from behind by a lorry travelling at 50 mph. There was another incident at night a few years previously on the M11,in which the coach had only just managed to get onto the hard shoulder and could just possibly have been still partially overhanging lane 1 and was then hit.

The advice from DVSA etc about emergency procedure for PSV drivers is very clear,I would urge all to refamiliarise yourselves with this and also to reconsider whether you wish to travel, in a comparatively slow moving vehicle, on those sections of managed motorways which require vehicles to use the hard shoulder as a live lane.

The UK needs to adopt the system used on many european fast roads and autoroutes.
With frequent pull over lanes well clear of the main roadway as well as a hard shoulder.
TThese are great for emergency use, and foe drivers feeling the onset of fatigue where just a ten min break can make a huge difference.

Why the UK is lagging behind so much on this I don't know, most of these improvements are also being funded by the EU. The UK has not even applied for the funding available.

There's a lot more to the case than just that. Part of the story was in RouteOne a few weeks go. Basically, the minibus was being operated by someone who was not a licenced operator; the driver did not have pcv entitlement, there was no insurance in place etc.etc. It's a long story and RouteOne could not report the whole story because of the criminal trial which roy says is now under way.

Be warned if you're considering doing illegal trips with your bus that you're not licenced to do.

My bus number (if any): GS67 RML2532

Agreed, Safety and striving to improve on safety be it operating or workshop is alway the best option.

And road safety is paramount in increasingly busy roads of all types.