A truck driver charged after allegedly crashing into a school bus in Melbourne’s west on Tuesday, seriously injuring several children, told police flashes of sunlight may have altered his perception, a court has heard.
Jamie Gleeson, 49, appeared before Melbourne magistrates court via video link on Wednesday afternoon after he was charged with four counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
The court heard Gleeson, a truck driver for 18 years, had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, which occurred at the intersection of Exford Road and Murphys Road in Eynesbury about 3.55pm on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Ben Kerlin said the bus driver, who was conducting a right-hand turn from Exford Road onto Murphys Road, had seen the truck approaching from behind and tried to accelerate to get out of its path but failed.
Kerlin told the court that Gleeson had said to police that he was on his way home from work at the time of the accident, following his “usual route”.
He said he would normally “take it easy” in school zones and was accelerating out of the 60km/h zone outside Exford primary school when he noticed “a sun flicker in the trees”, Kerlin told the court.
The court heard that Gleeson said he’d encountered the sun flicker while driving down the route before, which could “change distance and depth perception”.
“Whether that played a part … I couldn’t tell you,” he said during his police interview on Wednesday morning, Kerlin told the court.
Gleeson said he hit the brakes after seeing saw the bus slow down in front of him, but he didn’t have enough time to stop before colliding with it.
Kerlin said that, as a result of the collision, nine of the 46 children onboard became trapped on the bus, eight of whom sustained serious injuries.
Two children required amputations of their hands and arms, he said.
Another 30 children were described by police as “walking wounded”.
The charges against Gleeson specifically relate to four children – two each aged nine and 10. Kerlin said more charges could follow.
His application for bail was granted, with magistrate Andrew McKenna noting he had no criminal history and had cooperated with police. He is due to return for a committal mention on 18 October.
Victoria police Supt Michael Cruse had earlier praised the actions of those first on the scene, who helped emergency workers pull trapped children from inside the wreckage.
“The bus driver, despite being injured, I understand that he helped some of the children out of the bus. Then we had passersby who have heroically stopped immediately … assisting the children who could be removed from the bus,” he said.
“It was a horrific scene. It was chaotic and it would have been really confronting for those passersby.”
The Exford primary school principal, Lisa Campo, was alerted by someone driving past the scene.
“We were about to start a staff meeting and I said ‘I have to go’ and they all followed me down. We just flooded the kids,” Campo said.
“I honestly thought I would just be there accompanying distressed kids and there had been a minor collision. I didn’t ever expect to see that and I hope I never see that again.”
Campo said students would be offered counselling and other support services. Several did not attend on Wednesday; those who did were allowed to wear their pyjamas to school.
The chief executive of Royal Children’s hospital, Bernadette McDonald, had earlier said nine children, aged between five and 11, were admitted to the hospital and several required extensive surgery, including one who had undergone a complete amputation of their arm.
“The children have suffered multiple and traumatic injuries including partial and complete amputations of arms, multiple crushed limb injuries, severe lacerations to head and body, head injuries and glass shard injuries,” McDonald told reporters on Wednesday.
“Three patients are currently receiving spinal support and being monitored carefully, in terms of spinal injuries.”
Two children were discharged last night, with seven remaining in a stable condition on Wednesday afternoon.
Many children would need to undergo multiple surgeries and long-term rehabilitation was likely, McDonald said.
“We’re working extremely hard to provide that trauma support and care that they will need, not just now but in the coming weeks and months,” she said.
The state premier, Daniel Andrews, and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, praised the work of first responders.
“Any accident is just horrific of this nature,” Albanese said. “The fact that it involves school students just breaks your heart, and my heart goes out to them and their families.”
