Sydney bus driver lectured by police over speeding after Hunter Valley tragedy

Sydney’s buses have seemingly come under more scrutiny in the wake of the weekend’s Hunter Valley tragedy which killed 10 people and injured dozens more.

Sydney’s buses have seemingly come under more scrutiny in the wake of the weekend’s Hunter Valley tragedy, with a police officer giving one driver a lecture after allegedly catching him speeding.

In a rare incident, a NSW Police officer pulled over a 525 bus from Parramatta to Strathfield about 11.15am on Wednesday after allegedly capturing the driver going over the speed limit as he passed Sydney Olympic Park train station.

The officer then boarded the bus, took his details and fined the driver, with passengers saying he delivered a lecture about the dangers of speeding in such a large vehicle.

A bus driver has been fined for speeding by NSW Police just days after the Hunter Valley tragedy. Picture: Anthony Dabovic

Bus passenger Anthony Dabovic said he had “never” seen a bus pulled over for speeding before and was left to wonder if it was part of a “crackdown” by police in the wake of Sunday night’s Hunter Valley crash that claimed 10 lives.

“We were turning into Olympic Park passing the station and the cop was parked on the other side,” regular bus passenger Mr Dabovic told The Daily Telegraph.

“He pulled around, popped the sirens on and pulled him over, and issued a fine.

“Then he mentioned the incident that happened (in the Hunter Valley), saying something like: ‘You saw what happened on Sunday’.

“(I have) never ever seen that, that’s why I was like, ‘OK, that’s interesting’ and then when he mentioned the incident I thought maybe its something more like a crackdown.”

Mr Dabovic said the bus driver told the police officer – who alleged he was driving 55km/h in a 40 zone – that he thought it was a 60 zone.

NSW Police were approached for comment by The Daily Telegraph.

On Monday, Brett Andrew Button, 58, was charged over the deaths of 10 people in the catastrophic crash north of Newcastle the previous night.

The horrific crash happened at about 11.30pm as the bus approached a roundabout at Greta, on its way to Singleton.

As of Wednesday morning nine bus passengers were in a stable condition at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.

Two were in a stable condition at Singleton and two were stable at Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney.

Twenty-five passengers were initially hospitalised following the crash, with an outpouring of grief and tributes to the 10 people killed in the days following the tragedy.