A diabetic coach driver transporting school pupils falls unconscious behind the wheel

A school coach narrowly avoided a serious accident last week when the diabetic driver fell unconscious whilst still behind the wheel. The coach was transporting a group of school girls from Beaconsfield High School in Buckingham at the time of the accident.

The driver of the coach was said to have been in need of medication to treat his diabetes when he lost consciousness and struggled to keep the coach under control. Witnesses said the coach suddenly swerved off the road and hit a stationary car.

An ambulance was called but the driver didn’t need hospital attention and was instead treated at the crash site by paramedics who administered his medication. No passengers were injured in the accident.

The school pupils were marshalled off the bus by the older sixth form students on the coach and another motorist who had been travelling in the car behind and stopped to help. The motorist said he came to the aid of the driver immediately after the accident and said he found him “slumped over the wheel, semi conscious” he added that his main concern was to get the engine turned off so as to prevent a further accident.

Officers from Thames Valley Police attended the scene and said that when they arrived the driver was “drifting in and out of consciousness with slurred speech.” No one has been arrested in conjunction with the incident.