I meant to step on the brakes...
What bus driver said after double-decker ploughed into father and sent him flying
the driver of a double-decker bus which sent a pedestrian flying through the air said he accidentally hit the accelerator pedal instead of the brake.
simon smith incredibly got up and then walked into a pub after being poleaxed by the out-of-control bus, which also destroyed a bus shelter in the town centre crash.
Bus driver Cheikh senghor, 40, admitted a charge of dangerous driving when he appeared before a district judge yesterday but was told the court’s powers of punishment were too limited to deal with him. the accident was caught on CCtV in the centre of reading, and the footage – which has been viewed on social media by more than half a million people – shows Mr smith flying through the air after the bus slams into him.
he escaped with a couple of minor bone fractures and scratches but the court heard he had been psychologically scarred by the horrific experience.
Alexander Dos santos, defending, said the type of bus the defendant was driving at the time had a tendency to surge forward when you hit the accelerator pedal.
he said the defendant wished to send his regards and apologies to the victim, and added: ‘rather than dealing with it appropriately by hitting the brakes, he hit the wrong pedal and instead the bus accelerated.’ District Judge Davinder Lachhar said the problem with the buses would have been familiar to all people driving them and rejected any suggestion that this was a mitigating factor in the case. Footage showed Mr smith calmly stand up and stroll into the purple turtle bar after being hit by the bus on saturday, June 24. But the married father said he was ‘lucky to be alive’. reading Magistrates Court heard Mr smith was still off work as an hGV driver following the incident, as he still suffered from the physical and emotional consequences. senghor, of Wallingford, oxfordshire, spoke only to confirm his personal details and admit the charge of dangerous driving. he will be sentenced at reading Crown Court at a date yet to be confirmed.