Police have served the driver of the bus (HE 255) that overturned in the Copthall area at around noon on Wednesday, with a letter of intent to prosecute.
Police spokesman Claude Weekes said that driver breached several traffic laws that otherwise would not have resulted in the near-death experience of the passengers on board.
Weeks told Dominica News Online that the Traffic Department had investigated the wrecked bus and found the tires to be ‘bald’ among other things. These kinds of tires have no threads and are unsuited for road use, especially when it rains.
The driver of the bus, Damien Joseph of Wotten Waven, sustained injuries to his arm while other passengers received wounds from the accident. Fire and Ambulance personnel transported them to the Princess Margaret Hospital.
According to information gathered at the scene, Joseph was heading to town when he attempted to overtake a car (registration PL48).
During that process, his bus grazed the front right side of the car then hit a steep hill at the left side of the road and overturn.
lol im readin these comments and im lmao… guess the persons who knew him knows about his carelessness….. so i guess they have rights to say whtever.. dominica is a free country express allu thoughts self 11
all u people like to judge people when they make mistake in life but when all u do wrong all u want everybody to forgive all u
chhhh…….old sin wii boy damien……… … happens man………. never know u had all that enemies eh………..typical human beings
All of allu that there talkin nonsense I hope allu no allu have children allu have family allu want 2 be judging a man 4 a mistake he make n first thing allu want 2 do is pass judgement god give all of us a second chance that y we there 2day n we did worse in the past n doing no better right now allu talking like allu neva do nothing wrong it could be allu son it happen 2 or allu close family to this day as I even writing now some of allu could be committing adultry allu could be sinning against the creator n allu want 2 be judging a man da already get his judgement..shut allu mouth think before allu talk best allu remain quiet n be thought of as a fool rather than open allu mouth a prove that allu r fools if allu have no sin cast d first stone
@K W.: well u escape, lucky u
@homemade stcroix: kai bowbusior is a deadly area, God was in his pants pocket, he need to be charge people lives are not garbage u are going to dump.Its time he buy something descent, and dump that bus.
@Man himself: u are right that’s all he does, u need to go to the village and check all the junk up parts he have in front his mother yard. That’s the truth all he does is patch up buses piece piece.
sorry to hear of the accident. but people of wotten waven take care don’t let this mad drivers take your lives. this roads are cliff and precipise. they must be charged so other drivers will learn a lesson. what if was ki-yere bohiso that would be the end of you’ll. Once again give thanks to god. .
First and foremost i am happy to hear that all is alive and not seriously injured. Dominica is an amazing island. I’ve been to the island twice. I have traveled with Mr. Joseph on both occasions, along with 5 other passengers. I recall him to be very generous young man. Now we were all aware of the roads and van we were riding in. I felt the driver was very focused and cautious on the roads. I noticed his speed and how he maintained a safe distance from the car ahead of us. I also noticed that for the safety of the passengers his courteous driving skills, Mr. Damien got us all to and from our destination on time and safe. I would kindly have him drive me all throughout Dominca …from Scottshead to Portsmouth.thx. ..peace.
Good for him! those bus drivers like to do too much NONSENSE on de road!
Well I must say that I rode on his bus on several occassions and I found him a very careful and good driver on all of those occassions.
The man is just trying to earn a bit of a living for his family. And accidents can happen to every one of us.
All of you out there are so fast in judging without knowing the whole truth. All of you claim to be good christians. But if you look inside yourself, all of you will know that everyone makes mistakes and has hardships to face. So let God be the ONLY one to judge this man and let him be in peace by the rest of us.
Life on the island is hard enough for everyone without you making it even harder.
Weell well. this is not suprise to me. Just glad that no one was killed. Mister is one of the worse bus drivers I have seen I would not ride his bus even if he offered me a free ride, It is time that the law catch up to these guys. They treat people lives life fowls just to make a dollar, and he is no exception
it will be someone else getting hurt behind this fool.
i dont ride his bus anymore due to the fact that he doesnt care about my life, just the dollar.
he wont learn anything from this, till his mother is crying at his grave site.
this guy shouldnt drive a bus or anything with wheels.
the bus is in need of so many repairs, he gets a flat every other day.
if he tries to over pass me one the road to wotten waven i will think of my life and let mister take the cliff before me.
get serious and take these broken old buses of the road for good
I am shocked to see that everybody is in agreement that the driver should be prosecuted. I am shocked because just the other day when that young girl from the bank and her friend were killed in a car accident because the driver was speeding, everybody and their mama was saying they should leave the boy alone. That is a mistake he make. That who doh have sins should cast the first stone and a parchay foolishness. What changed nah? Anyway I am happy that the bus driver going to be charged. They really need to come down hard on these people.
bEING ONE OF THE RESPECTED RIVERS IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT SOME 20YEARS AGO I EXPERIENCED SOME MADNESS BY ONE OF THE BUS DRIVERS LAST YEAR AND IMMEDIATELY ASKED HIM TO STOP SO I COULD DISEMBARK . I PAID HIM THE FULL FARE BUT WAS SAFER WALKING THE OTHER HALF OF THE TRIP .
lol
well when i am on a bus and the driver tries to overtake, i open my mouth and tell him no way not when i am on that bus. It is their habit to do that and he could have killed himself and the passengers. GOOD JOB INSPECTOR.
@hell hath no furry!!!!!: what you think he really worth nuh. sac weh sot. chupes!
what you ppl expect, the system we have in Dominica is, you go for a driving licence, you pass your test , then you drive for two years and all of a sudden you becomes a pvc driver…
system wrong!! I think to be able to carry passengers, you should take a pvc driving test because none of the bus drivers in Dominica knows how to drive a bus with passangers..
take it from me, a Dominican living in uk nd is a bus driver…
One of them partners on the scene tell me he wants the french man to say is he that was wrong so the french man insurance will cover him and the expences of the casualties. He joking with french people, A new bus he want why he didn’t make the french woman give him a new bus? What happen to that connection?
Weeks must put a police officer 24-7 on that particular bus stop.
The partner in the hospital need a plate for his hand, ebeah who going to finance that one? If he have any french connection he will have to comes up. Or better yet ask his boyfriend to sign another loan for him even if they in court.
I have a feeling that the bus driver have all those old buses pack infront of his door for parts but u cannot take old to fix old. Why can’t he goes to the bank like all the other bus drivers?
Listen nuh! On my way to the hot water i stopped to check Damien bus and to my surprize i could not identify which one of them cause there are so many old busses pack infront tof the man door. And even old pieces of metal and tires, where is the environmental health officer for that area? Why aren’t he/she doing their work? What are they paying them for? The village is becoming a tourist site.
lmao
Good for him. Serve him right. Peter will pay for Paul. Our bus drivers need to be thought a lesson. Your bus cant be in such condition and you still want to be a careless driver while you have passengers on board. They don’t care but to show off on road not equiped for that. Grow up pple grow up
Not surprised his habit! Hope all the passengers are ok, and can u believe he has a bus today driving? D police aself should take his licence barn him from driving!
some bus drivers too greedy they will kill you for a little 25 cents but when come to buy new tires they cant.
@SUNSHINE:
when it comes to traffic laws,i just waiting to see how far this one makes it in court.i bet he will get a slap on the wrist since no one was seriously injured or killed.
all the passengers need to find a good lawyer and sue him for all he’s worth.that will teach some of them a lesson.
charge him self.
charge him
It was/is rather unfortunate, and for sure he might be a decent person with a family, mother, father, sister, brother, girlfriend/wife child/ren . But, he almost did not earn a living for the day or many days.
He is not the only person who would overtake in the effort of making more than one trip for the day. However, he proberly would not have made another trip in life.
Keep on trucking but take care. and that goes for all the bus drivers.
boi i thinking is a new bus dat wii u dat doing dat dr. 14:05pm friday 24th jst see u pass me on the road, hope is u bro and not u.
they do right ..prosecute him self…these bus drivers have no regard for the people they are driving
Wish the injured speedy recovery.
I’m thinking because of the excess wear & tear/mileage on buses, taxis etc. maybe the authorities should change inspection from once per year to bi-annually for vehicles used for these purposes?
All u doe know nothing yet! It was just a matter of time! That old bus and he drives so dam fast and loves to take over people does be afraid for their lives on that bus, happy to know that the people are ok.and those police does wait to see them accidents happen they need to be on the road and check more for those things!
The people on the bus should talk for their rights. A bus driver should be told “don’t over take with me!” But if they take it in and say nothing then they will never change.
Rather unfortunate. Seemed like a decent young man trying to earn an honest day’s pay.
In life we all make mistakes, sadly, this is the price of his. Hope he doesn’t give up and continues to work hard… yet another lesson in life to learn from. But don’t give up.
Well it is not only the bus drivers, why these driver find they need to over take and getting nowhere sometimes there is so much traffic in front they still have to join the Que of traffic.. Not enough is being done by the Police to enforce traffic rules if we have any.
well well i always knew something was not right for the bus to over turn like that i hope the others learn and do the right things in taking care of their buses some buses out ther a not fit to even carry cows and when they see you asking you if you going up fix all you bus and stop putting people lives in danger
well if officers do not stop them and book them, or the passegners do not stop and get off, then this is the outcome.
was about time…hope he put it in his pipe n smoke it…n every other driver plz take note..
please drivers even if you have been driving for 50+ years remember you have people’s lives in your in your hands. sure you to get to town/home for more people, BUT. overtaking might only get your passangers faster to long acre, because i have noticed that the drivers never usually gets hurt. would you want to remember that day? would you like to say if only?
let that be a warning to the others,,,,,i wish the … put dat front page on the paper,,,,,,them bus drivers to reckless,,,,,n doh talk for dem one in the south papa,,,,,soufriere n lapwete have a set u never see b4
the driver must be held responsible for his irresponsiblity. taking chances with peoples life ,driving with “boll head tires” on a public bus.
PLEASE SUE THIS GUY INJURED VICTIMS
good..these bus drivers jus believe the road is theirs….and endanger other drivers on the road as well….especially those on the west coast…..always want to over take….I drive at 60-70 and they still find that not fast enough for them…they over take u anywhere…..on a corner…..even when there is incoming traffic…..at least i hope the others learn from that case
GOOD.