1975 Dibbles Bridge coach crash

1975 road accident in North Yorkshire, England the 1975 accident the 1925 accident 1925 Dibbles Bridge coach crash August 2014 August 2023 Dibble's Bridge coach crash 220px Dibble's Bridge where the accident occurred 54.0634 -1.9226 dms type:landmark titleSE 05065 63073 27 May 1975 Near Hebden, North Yorkshire Bus accident Insufficient maintenance leading to brake failure. Bedford Duple 1 33 13 On 27 May 1975, a coach carrying elderly passengers crashed at the bottom of a steep hill at Dibble's Bridge over the River Dibb, near Hebden in North Yorkshire, England. Thirty-three people on board were killed, including the driver, and thirteen others injured. It was the worst-ever road accident in the United Kingdom by number of fatalities.https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/nov/05/m5-crash-britains-worst-accidents M5 crash: Britain's worst road accidents Guardian News and Media Limited 31 December 2011 London 5 November 2011 Accident The coach, a 1967 Bedford VAM5 run by Riley's Luxury Coaches, was carrying 45 female pensioners on a day trip from Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, to Grassington, in the Yorkshire Dales. The trip was organised by Dorothy White, Lady Mayoress of Thornaby who had previously run several such trips. While driving on a downhill stretch of the B6265 road between Greenhow and Hebden, stand-in coach driver Roger Marriott, a British Steel Corporation security officer, missed a gear. He then applied the brakes. The brakes had been serviced a week before the crash and had new linings, but as magistrates were later told, "defects" due to improper maintenance "meant there was no braking on the offside rear wheel". The brakes were insufficient to hold the coach, and it accelerated, heating up the brakes until they eventually failed as the coach travelled down the 1400 yd m on, 1:6 (17%, 10°) gradient from Fancarl Top to the bottom of the valley downstream of Grimwith Reservoir. After crashing through a steel crash barrier and a 3 ft m on 0 high stone parapet above the bank of the River Dibb, it landed on its fibreglass roof in the garden of a cottage 17 ft m 0 below. The aluminium sides of the coach then buckled on impact with the ground.Brian Dooks http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/the_day_tragedy_came_to_the_dales_1_2368878 The day tragedy came to the Dales Johnston Publishing Ltd 30 December 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20141006105029/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/the_day_tragedy_came_to_the_dales_1_2368878 6 October 2014http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr073.pdf Transport fatal accidents and FN-curves: 1967–2001 Health and Safety Executive 30 December 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20080801132452/http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr073.pdf 1 August 2008 The son-in-law of the cottage owners, London barrister (now painter and sculptor) Lincoln Seligman, was having a barbecue with his wife in the garden at the time and was first on the scene. He later gave an eyewitness account to the Teesside Evening Gazette: "There were screams. I dragged some people out ... I don't know how many".http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-news/so-many-tears-3798237 So many tears Evening Gazette 8 December 2014 Steven Griffin, Steve Jennison and Carl Dickinson, teenagers from Hull who were camping nearby, heard the crash and came to assist. One saw the bus flip over and saw the entire upper section crushed when it landed. They said the scene was silent when they arrived two minutes later, with the survivors stunned into silence. A car was flagged down and eventually one ambulance with a single driver arrived. He radioed a code which eventually brought a fleet of ambulances to ferry the injured to Airedale General Hospital in Keighley.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP4PJu1dwaM Dibbles Bridge: Britain's Worst Road Disaster YouTube 2 June 2025 Thirty-three people on board were killed, including the driver, and thirteen others injured. It was the worst-ever road accident in the United Kingdom by number of fatalities. Inquest An inquest at Skipton Town Hall, in July 1975, recorded a verdict of accidental death on the victims. Jury foreman John Mitchell said the accident was caused by the inability of the driver to negotiate the bend, owing to deficient brakes on the coach, due to possible lack of care in the maintenance of the braking system. The pathologist reported that the main cause of the loss of life was the crushing of the victims between the seats.Inquest begins into coach crash http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/4th-july-1975/19/inquest-begins-into-coach-crash 23 August 2014 Commercial Motor 4 July 1975 The proprietor of the coach company, Norman Riley, was later fined £75 (UK 75 1975 eq £UK y) for running a motor vehicle with defective brakes.A27 death crash proprietor fined £75 Commercial Motor http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/14th-november-1975/36/a27-death-crash-proprietor-fined-75 23 August 2014 14 November 1975 Aftermath Even before the crash there had been a campaign to have electro-magnetic retarders fitted to all coaches. An electro-magnetic retarder uses the rotation of the axle to generate electricity, the energy for which has to come from the movement of the axle. The use of such a retarder means that the frictional brakes are kept cool for use at slow speeds. Local newspaper The Yorkshire Post staged a trial two weeks later: a coach which had been fitted with the retarder was put out of gear and allowed to run away down the hill without braking, and the retarder kept the coach's speed within safe limits. The Dibble's Bridge crash brought the issue to a wider public; ultimately, legislation was passed requiring improved braking systems. A memorial service was held at St Paul's Church, Thornaby, in May 2015 to mark the 40th anniversary of the crash.Dibbles Bridge coach crash 40th anniversary marked https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-32844632 2 June 2016 BBC News 27 May 2015 A stone memorial was unveiled outside Thornaby Town Hall on the 47th anniversary of the crash in May 2022.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-61605328 Dibbles Bridge coach crash: Memorial unveiled to 1975 accident 27 May 2022 BBC News 2 June 2025https://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/25195091.victims-dibbles-bridge-crash-remembered-50th-anniversary/ Victims of Dibble's Bridge crash remembered on 50th anniversary 27 May 2025 Craven Herald and Pioneer 2 June 2025 See also 1925 Dibbles Bridge coach crash References 30em Category:1975 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:1975 in England Category:1975 road incidents Category:1970s in North Yorkshire Category:Bus incidents in England Category:May 1975 in the United Kingdom Category:Transport disasters in Yorkshire