One year has passed since the devastating wedding bus crash that killed ten people in the New South Wales Hunter region. As loved ones and a community grieve, changes are being put in place to make buses safer. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised this story contains the names and images of people who have died.
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00:00One year on, and forever loved. It was here, in the late evening of June 11, 2023, a bus,
00:10taking friends home from a vineyard wedding, crashed, killing 10 passengers and injuring
00:1525. Rebecca Mullin, Zach Bray, Kaya and Nadine McBride, Kane Simmons, Tori Cowburn, Darcy
00:25Woolman, Angus Craig and Andrew and Linnan Scott lost their lives.
00:31The family, obviously, is all still in pieces over the traumatic events that happened last
00:38year. The wider community is still very much on their minds also.
00:43Many of the victims were part of the Singleton Roosters AFL club. It says they're forever
00:48in our hearts and minds. The pain is still as fresh as the day they departed us.
00:54Many of the emergency workers who responded are also members of the local community.
01:00You really feel that some of the staff aren't travelling so well. And that, you know, really
01:05weighs on me. But, in saying that, we're going to be okay.
01:12The tragedy has ushered in changes for bus safety, led by survivors and those who lost
01:18loved ones. They include fitting more buses with seatbelts, bolstering safety education
01:24and reducing standing on board. Adam Bray lost his son, Zach, in the crash
01:30and led the campaign for change. Coach travel, Australia-wide, is safe so that
01:36everybody who needs to ride on a coach or a bus can arrive to work, arrive to school
01:43and more importantly arrive home. A permanent memorial has been established
01:47to honour the victims. Let's try to, just try to transfer our grief
01:53into happy tears, happy memories. Just them beautiful people that would like to be remembered
01:58that way. And I think that's the greatest thing we can do to respect them and to treasure
02:03them.