ABSTRACT
Safety is an important issue for coach drivers. In the last twenty-five years, there has been considerable turbulence in Australia’s long-distance coach industry. According to Raggatt (1991), increasing public demand for cheap travel, and the deregulation of the industry during the early 1980s, led to the entry of new bus companies and a marked escalation of competition; so much so, that by 1988/1989 two of the largest and longest established national operators were experiencing major financial difficulties. Public confidence in long-distance coaches was further eroded at the end of 1989, when the country witnessed, in quick succession, its two worst coach accidents on record. In all, fifty-six people died. Vigorous public debate over the issue of road safety and the responsibilities of the heavy transport industry followed.
