Bus Driver Loses Appeal Over Pedestrian Death

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A bus driver who said sleep overtook him at the wheel has lost his appeal against a one-year jail term after his vehicle left the road and killed a pedestrian.

The First High Criminal Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s ruling after finding that the driver had caused the man’s death by failing to take proper care while driving.

Prosecutors said the appellant had driven without the utmost care, damaged property belonging to others, failed to use caution, and drove in a way that put pedestrians on the carriageway at risk.

The crash took place at around 3.40pm near a bend on a public road. The victim was in a farming area behind a metal barrier when the passenger bus driven by the appellant came towards the bend.

Court papers say the driver was tired and drowsy. As he reached the bend, the bus drifted to the right, struck a road sign, then hit a metal barrier.

It mounted the barrier while skidding and then hit the pedestrian head-on.

The impact threw the man into another road sign. His body came to rest 5.11 metres from the point where he was struck.

The bus kept skidding, hit two further signs, overturned and stopped on its roof off the road, inside the side farming area, 22 metres from the point of impact.

The crash damaged two road signs, a metal barrier and the farming area, while the bus suffered moderate damage. The pedestrian died at the scene from severe injuries.