First Bus driver crowned UK Bus Driver of the Year for second year running
First Bus and GreenRoad will celebrate David Nairn’s national award at Euro Bus Expo, with the GreenRoad safety platform revealing his near-perfect driving performance.
A First Bus driver has been crowned the UK’s most skilled and professional bus driver for the second year running, as David Nairn takes the title of UK Bus Driver of the Year 2026.
Nairn, who is based at First Bus’s Bramley depot in Leeds, won the national final in Blackpool on 6 September, competing against more than 100 drivers across a series of demanding theory and practical tests. His selection by First Bus for the finals included his GreenRoad score of 2, reflecting a near-perfect driving record over the past 12 months.
The win means a First Bus driver has now held the national title for two consecutive years, the first time in 20 years that one operator has retained the award. Michael Leech, of First Bus’s Halifax depot, was named UK Bus Driver of the Year in 2025. Nairn also picked up awards for the highest-placed driver from an English depot and the highest-placed First Bus competitor in the final.
“David’s achievement is a tremendous source of pride for everyone at First Bus. Bus drivers carry enormous responsibility every day, combining technical skill and sound judgement with commitment to passengers and the communities they serve. To have two First Bus colleagues win this national award in consecutive years says a great deal about the standards our drivers set.”
Zoe Hands, Managing Director, First Bus Franchising
“Technology can provide insight, identify risk and support better decisions, but skilled and committed drivers remain at the heart of every safe journey. David’s achievement deserves to be celebrated across the industry. We are proud to work with First Bus and to recognise David’s success at Euro Bus Expo.”
Yali Harari, CEO, GreenRoad
GreenRoad’s fleet-safety platform is based on predictive AI and combines driver feedback, telematics and video to help transport operators identify risk and act before incidents happen, giving drivers real-time feedback while equipping fleet and safety teams with the insight to support focused coaching and continuous improvement.
Visitors to Euro Bus Expo can meet the GreenRoad team to see how predictive and agentic AI are helping passenger transport operators move from reacting to incidents to preventing them.
Photo credit: Glenn Minikin
Visit GreenRoad on stand 160 at Euro Bus Expo 2026, 3–5 November, NEC Birmingham.
Preventing Bridge Strikes in association with Road Skills Online
Parksafe Group has partnered with Road Skills Online to help reduce bridge strikes across the UK by combining technology with driver education.
The relationship began when Parksafe Group ran a toolbox talk with Road Skills Online to help its own staff better understand bridge strikes. The company realised that while its Low Bridge Detection System offers a valuable driver aid in the final moments, combining it with education was a much more powerful way to prevent collisions.
Road Skills Online delivers informative, engaging and digestible online toolbox talks, helping companies and drivers better understand their errors and misunderstandings, and find ways to address them.
Bridge strikes: the facts
Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, Network Rail reported 1,833 bridge strikes. Each costs an average of £13,000, leading to annual expenditure of approximately £23 million. Bridge strikes cause major delays for rail and road alike, waste emergency service resources and can have catastrophic effects on companies and drivers – yet they are entirely avoidable.
Low Bridge Detection System
Parksafe Group’s award-winning Low Bridge Detection System (LBDS) has the UK’s entire low bridge network pre-programmed, giving the driver a visual and audible warning when approaching a low bridge. Vehicle information is entered at installation to minimise driver input. The system activates when a vehicle enters a bridge’s geofence, does not rely on a 4G signal, and is remotely monitored and updated.
Technology and training together
Independently, training and technology are both effective, but training can be forgotten or misunderstood, and warnings can be ignored. When combined, they reinforce one another: if a driver has forgotten their training, an LBDS alert will remind them of it; if they are inclined to ignore a warning, their training may make them take it more seriously.
Together, Parksafe Group’s LBDS and Road Skills Online’s training give drivers every tool possible to consider and evaluate their route – and help put a stop to bridge strikes.
Visit Parksafe Group on stand 62 at Euro Bus Expo 2026, 3–5 November, NEC Birmingham.