Families who lost loved-ones in a deadly bus crash have sued over the roundabout where the tragedy took place as the driver responsible stares down decades in prison.
Brett Button, 59, was sentenced on Sep. 11 to 32 years, with a non-parole period of 24 years, for killing 10 passengers and injuring 25 others who had been celebrating a young couple’s wedding in the New South Wales (NSW) Hunter Valley.
He sped up while approaching the roundabout before losing control of the bus, which slammed into a guard rail and rolled onto its side.
Button was driving while impaired by an opioid painkiller.
His lengthy sentence came despite misgivings of crash survivors and families of those who died after prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges for lesser driving offences.
In a NSW Supreme Court class action filed on Sep. 12, survivors, families of victims, first responders, and insurance companies have joined to seek damages from the state’s transport authority for physical and psychological injuries caused by the crash.
The suit claims Transport for NSW was responsible for alleged safety failings on Wine Country Drive at Greta, where Button was driving when the bus carrying 35 wedding guests crashed about 11.30pm on June 11, 2023.
Court documents claim the interchange had numerous design flaws including being elliptical instead of round, using guard rails instead of run-off areas and having a gutter that was a “tripping risk” for larger vehicles.
The speed limit through the roundabout was also allegedly too high.
Audits by Transport for NSW were “inadequate to identify the unsafe design and construction of the interchange,” the statement of claim said.
Lawyers who filed the class action told AAP they expected the department to join Button’s employer Linq Buslines to the case.
Adam Bray, whose son Zach was killed in the crash, said the legal action was about holding authorities to account for the 10 “preventable” deaths.
Bray pointed to court evidence showing the driver was stood down from another company when taking 40 opiates a week.
Button did not declare he was using painkillers when he started working at Linq.
When asked about the class action, NSW Premier Chris Minns told reporters families had the right to sue and he respected their decision.
Transport for NSW declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said it continued to offer support for those impacted.
A spokeswoman from Linq noted it had not received notice of the case and could not comment, but extended its sympathies to families of the victims during an “extremely difficult” time.
Before being sentenced, Button told the court of his sorrow and shame and said he did not forgive himself.
He claimed he had been using Tramadol since 1994 and had developed a tolerance to the opioid he used to relieve pain.
The driver had taken 350 milligrams of Tramadol on the day of the crash despite doctors telling him the daily maximum dose was 200 milligrams.
He pleaded guilty to 10 charges of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of driving causing grievous bodily harm and 16 counts of causing bodily harm by wanton driving.
Bray praised Judge Roy Ellis for the sentence but said it was “bittersweet” other road-trauma cases had not been met with similar punishments.
“The judge has done an exceptional job to appreciate the gravity and the significance, and in his own words, just the catastrophic, widespread trauma that has ruined hundreds of people’s lives,” he said.
“No amount of years can repair it ... (but) historically others victims have not had the sort of outcomes we did.”
