The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Woman pinned to wall by bus, court is told
Pedestrian’s heart stopped beating at one point during incident
A bus driver left a pedestrian with lifethreatening injuries after slamming his double decker bus into her as he tried to negotiate a Perthshire road.
Fraser McGregor was attempting to mount a pavement to manoeuvre around some parked cars when the vehicle lurched forward and collided with Lena Tocher.
The incident, in Crieff’s Broich Road, left Ms Tocher with a fractured femur, a broken pelvis and injuries to her chest.
She was treated by a trauma team at the scene before being rushed to Ninewells hospital. At one point during her ordeal, the-then 44-year-old’s heart stopped beating.
Yesterday at Perth Sheriff Court McGregor, who was sacked by Stagecoach following the crash, was disqualified from driving for six months.
McGregor, of Glencarse, admitted causing serious injury to Ms Tocher, 45, by driving carelessly and causing the bus to mount the pavement.
Depute fiscal Sue Ruta said: “At about 3.42pm on November 6 2015 Lena Tocher was walking home from work.
“At this time the accused was driving his double decker bus eastwards along Broich Road, which was busy with opposing traffic.
“The accused turned the bus towards the nearside and tried to mount the pavement to allow oncoming traffic more space to pass. Lena Tocher saw the bus and stopped walking.
“As the accused continued driving slowly the bus suddenly veered to the left and collided with the building wall where Lena Tocher was standing.
She was pinned between the bus and the wall. After a few seconds the accused reversed the bus in order to free Lena Tocher, who then fell to the ground.”
Police crash investigators later found McGregor had not mounted the pavement but had driven along with the wheel against the kerb and his steering at full lock. When the wheel came to a section of dropped kerb the bus lurched on to the pavement towards Ms Tocher.
Advocate Stephen Hughes, defending, said McGregor, 26, had lost his job with Stagecoach and had worked as a delivery driver and a taxi driver since the crash.
He said: “The incident was pretty much momentary – the mounting of the pavement appears to have been caused by pressure of the bus tyre on the kerb.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis noted that while there was a specific offence of causing serious injury through dangerous driving, there was no equivalent in relation to dangerous driving.
In addition to the driving ban, McGregor must resit his driving test before being allowed behind the wheel again. He was also fined £800.