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Adelaide bus drivers caught breaking law

Figures obtained by 7 News show Adelaide bus drivers are racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Since January 2013, police have issued bus drivers with 304 fines.

More than half were for speeding and two drivers were booked doing 19km/h over the limit.

Drivers were also caught running red lights 133 times. On nine occasions, fines were issued for driving through rail crossings while the warning lights were flashing.

Thousands of South Australians put their lives in the hands of bus drivers every day. The figures may make them think twice.

“That is definitely dangerous…they're pretty scary figures,” said one bus user.

Another said: "The bus that I take regularly runs really fast and even just yesterday the bus driver almost ran two red lights."

Nine fines were issued for driving through rail crossings while the warning lights were flashing. Photo: 7 News
Nine fines were issued for driving through rail crossings while the warning lights were flashing. Photo: 7 News

“They are serious offences and again we are disappointed that they would choose to drive in an unsafe manner," Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Chief Operating Officer Paul Gelston said.

Torrens Transit drivers have racked up the most fines, followed by Transfield, Southlink and Australian Transit Enterprises.

The biggest fine stemmed from an incident at the Leader Street level crossing at Forestville where a bus driver sped across the tracks as a train approached.

The bus was clocked at 66 km/h in a 50 zone, resulting in a $1476 penalty.

“It's a concern that any driver should choose to break the law and even more so where they have a large number of passengers on board," Mr Gelston said.