Three bus crashes in less than two weeks has prompted the Government to instruct transport officials to investigate.
Taranaki driver Allan Campbell died in the latest crash yesterday.
The school bus he was driving veered off State Highway Three near Inglewood and ploughed down a bank, injuring 13 high school students on board.
It's unclear whether the 69 year-old suffered a medical event.
It follows crashes in Manawatū last week and a fatal on the Turoa ski field access road a fortnight ago.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford says he wants transport officials to tell him "whether or not the Certificate of Fitness testing has been implemented with sufficient rigour.
"And secondly I want them to look at all three cases and see whether there are any common elements that we can learn from."
The students involved in yesterday's crash are reportedly all recovering well.
The Transport Agency said SH3 at Inglewood was closed this afternoon while the the bus, a Mitsubishi Fuso, was removed, but the road has since reopened.
Managing director of bus company Tranzit, Paul Snelgrove, confirmed the make and model of the bus to RNZ, and said it was not due for a service until next year.
It was the same make of the bus that rolled near the Turoa skifield last month killing 11-year-old Hannah Francis, and last week a bus of the same make crashed in Manawatū carrying 19 people.
Mr Snelgrove said he had spent time with Mr Campbell's widow and family this morning.
Mr Campbell had been driving with Tranzit since 2011 and had been driving the school route for the past nine months.
Mr Snelgrove said his staff were devastated by the death.
"Pretty traumatic time for our team in Taranaki because we have an incredibly close-knit team within our Tranzit companies."
"You walk out your door, you expect to come home at night don't you," he said.
Mr Snelgrove said the Taranaki Tranzit community was small, and all the drivers knew each other well.
It was too early to tell what happened and police were investigating, he said.
The Transport Agency said there was a temporary speed restriction of 50km/h after yesterday's crash.
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