A Report in The Press says that the driver of a tourist bus that crashed off a road fell out of his seat after reaching for a dropped pen, a court has been told.
On April 21 the Kiwi Experience bus, driven by Nathan John Hyslop, tumbled 40m down a steep West Coast hillside before coming to rest right side up, with 21 of the 43 passengers injured, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday.
Hyslop, 32, a first offender, admitted 10 charges of careless operation causing injury.
Prosecutor Nigel Wolland said Hyslop had driven for Kiwi Experience, a company catering largely for backpackers, for more than three years.
The company operated regularly between the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers on a demanding road, with 15km of it narrow and winding.
Hyslop was negotiating a section with a series of downhill S-bends posted at 35km/h when a pen fell from the dashboard. He reached for it, lost his balance and fell from his seat, causing the bus to crash.
Hyslop co-operated well with the police investigation, readily admitting the carelessness, saying he did not know why he reached for the pen, Wolland said.
Lawyer Pip Hall asked for a remand to early January so submissions in mitigation could be prepared.
Total reparation of $2802 is claimed by six passengers.
Hyslop was remanded at large to January 10 for sentence by Judge Tony Couch.
A Report by The Mole
