I confess that when I saw the damage I was surprised that the truck driver had 'survived'.

There's not a lot of protection . . .

I don't think any trucks have airbags? (not that it helps much if the survival space disappears).

Take care those of you out there who are still driving heavies.

Always!

Can I add my condolences, to the family?

The bus was a former Stagecoach service bus (No.20780) which had worn a promotional overall advert for "Laurel & Hardy" rather than Stagecoach corporate colours. As it had been a service bus, it was not fitted with seat belts.

Photos of the vehicle (pre-accident) can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdjt42/3557774902/

Given the road conditions reported (fog with less than 100 metres visibility) and the report at 0612 that there was a vehicle blocking Lane 1, the Highways Agency should have switched the warning lights to channel traffic out of Lane 1 into Lanes 2 and 3 and should have despatched the Police and Traffic Officers to the scene as a broken down bus/coach full of people should be a major emergency. I would have thought that the bus driver should also have evacuated the passengers to a place of safety.

Having said that, the FW truck must have hit the stationary bus at some speed given the distance the vehicle was projected (given that its' brakes were on).

There are a lot of contributory elements to this tragic accident. My thoughts and condolences go to all of the next of kin and relatives.

Where does that leave the legality of operating it to transport workers over a significant distance? - ie not a stage vehicle.

What I don't understand it is, given that the bus was reported as being on the inside lane how did the wagon collide with it on that side and not the other way around? (Wagons nearside colliding with buses offside.)

The obvious suggestion is that he couldn't swerve out, in to lane 2, due to overtaking traffic. So he tried to go up the hard shoulder, to avoid it.
Another possibility is that he was foreign and more used to a LHD vehicle. In which case, I think the instinct would be to swerve left, rather than right/ I do know that F.W. do employ some Polish drivers but, I don't think we know if this was one of them.

The deceased driver was a 65 year-old from Wells, Somerset.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17521889

Yes, that ocurred to me later.