When Bradford bus driver Saeed Abbas fell asleep at the wheel it was with tragic consequences particularly for an 82-year-old passenger who died three weeks later from his injuries, and for his grieving family, but also for Abbas himself who has now been jailed for seven years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

This was an accident which could have been avoided if the 24-year-old had been responsible enough to acknowledge that he was in no fit state to drive on that day. He had already had a near miss on that same journey when he almost collided with a bridge parapet. That should have been warning enough for him. But he drove on, with fatal results for one of his passengers.

This case delivers a strong warning not only to other bus drivers, who the travelling public need to be able to trust implicitly, but to all of us who spend time behind the wheel. Fatigue should never be ignored. It can kill.

However, the earlier near miss with the bridge was not the first intimation that Seed Abbas was perhaps not suited to such a demanding job. He didn't pass the theory part of his driving test until the third attempt. He had already had several accidents in his bus-driving career and was pending disciplinary action at the time of the accident.

While in no way suggesting that his employers were at fault, it might be useful if procedures were looked at so we can be reassured that those who are struggling to cope with the work will be readily identified and redeployed