Arabic version: شركة إيمو ران تورز تقاضي الشركة المصنعة بسبب انقلاب حافلة مميت عام 2022
A Central Australian tour company has filed a negligence and breach of contract lawsuit against an off‑road vehicle manufacturer over a fatal 2022 bus rollover west of Alice Springs.
According to ABC News, court documents lodged in the NT Supreme Court allege Australian Adventure Vehicles (AAV) supplied a modification kit and specific tyre weight and air pressure specifications that were used to convert the tour bus from dual to single wheel sets. The documents say the company mechanic, Ian Jackson, removed two wheels from the back of the bus in February 2022 using the AAV kit and fitted the vehicle with wheels based on AAV’s specifications.
The tour bus was carrying two workers and 19 passengers while travelling along Larapinta Drive near the remote community of Hermannsburg, west of Alice Springs, when a tyre blew and the vehicle rolled, killing a 69-year-old man. According to the court documents, during a tour to Palm Valley on June 5 the right rear tyre “began to rapidly deflate”, forcing the driver to pull over and replace it with a spare, and the next day the other rear tyre burst, resulting in the vehicle veering off the road and rolling.
A 67-year-old woman was taken to intensive care, and three other passengers were hospitalised with serious injuries.
Emu Run Tours and its director, Patrick Bedford, are suing Australian Adventure Vehicles for negligence and breach of contract. Emu Run alleges AAV provided incorrect weight and air pressure specifications that were too low for the bus, in breach of its contract and duty of care. The court documents state: “It was reasonably foreseeable to AAV that a breach of the contract’s specific or implied terms could result in an accident causing injuries and/or fatalities.” Emu Run Tours are seeking damages and legal costs in the civil action.
Emu Run Tours, Mr Bedford and company mechanic Ian Jackson were charged with several breaches of the Northern Territory’s work health and safety laws following the accident on June 6, 2022. Mr Jackson, who made the modifications to the bus four months before the accident, and Mr Bedford were not in the bus at the time of the crash. Mr Bedford and Mr Jackson are due to return to the Darwin Local Court in October for a 10-day hearing over the NT WorkSafe charges.
Court documents filed in the NT Supreme Court in May initiated the civil action against AAV; Emu Run seeks damages and legal costs for the injuries and death arising from the 2022 rollover.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Northern Territory | Arab | Lebanon/لبنان
