By Cam Lucadou-Wells
The death of a 76-year-old man who was tipped out of his wheelchair aboard a public-transport bus in Springvale may have been prevented, the State Coroner has found.
John Edwin Wilks, of Mulgrave, who had been paralysed by a stroke down his left side, was unable to grip a handrail to steady himself as the Ventura bus rounded a corner from Police Road to Springvale Road, Coroner Simon McGregor found on 19 March.
“If a restraint system more effective than a handhold had been in place on Mr Wilks’ bus, his death might have been prevented.”
He called out as his wheelchair started to tilt but was powerless to stop himself hitting the floor about 9.48am on 13 August 2017.
He was assisted back into his wheelchair by the Ventura Bus Lines driver and other passengers, then helped off at Springvale railway station, where he phoned emergency services.
At Monash Medical Centre, he was admitted with fractured ribs and internal bleeding. He developed pneumonia and respiratory failure.
He died in palliative care 13 days later.
Coroner McGregor noted that little seemed to have been done since a transport safety investigation into a similar incident in 2006.
There was no legislative requirement for active restraints of wheelchairs on buses. According to submissions from bus industry and public transport groups, there were technical challenges in installing them.
However the coroner recommended that effective wheelchair restraints should be installed on public buses.
The voices of people with disabilities had to be heard during any discussion process, he said.
“Wheelchair users must not only be able to access public buses, they must feel safe on them, and they ought not be physically imperilled by the manner in which these systems are operated.
“Mr Wilks’ death has highlighted that previously identified systemic risks remain unresolved.”
Coroner McGregor praised Ventura for proposing to install a rearward-facing ‘ironing board device’ on future buses. Wheelchairs could be tethered to the device.
He recommended that the Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne encourage other bus operators to follow Ventura’s lead.
