Driver guilty after woman killed in CBD bus crash
A magistrate has found a council bus driver guilty of careless driving causing death after a teenager was crushed against a building in a CBD peak-hour crash.
A bus driver who fatally crushed a young woman on a city street during afternoon rush hour has been found guilty of careless driving causing death.
Tia Cameron, 18, was struck by a city council bus and pinned against a building just after 5pm on March 8, 2024 in Brisbane’s CBD.
Lindsay Francis Selby, 70, pleaded not guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to driving without due care or attention causing death.
Magistrate Aaron Simpson handed down his verdict on Thursday following Selby’s one-day trial in September.
“I find you guilty,” Simpson said.
Cameron’s family cried in court as Simpson said he would adjourn the court before reading the lengthy reasons for his verdict later on Thursday.
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Selby did not visibly react and stood staring ahead.
Simpson previously heard conflicting arguments as to whether Selby was criminally inattentive or involved in a tragic accident.
The prosecution had failed to prove their allegation that Selby did not brake as he had not seen a black SUV in front of him while he turned downhill, defence barrister Saul Holt said.
“We will just never know why he was unable to brake,” Holt said.
Selby told police after the crash he had thought he was “going to slam into four lanes of traffic”.
“I was trying to stop and it’s not stopping,” Selby said.
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“I moved the wheel across to the left and steered into the building. Unfortunately there was somebody in the way that I didn’t see.”
Both the prosecution and defence agreed Selby turned on a busy street and failed to apply the brakes.
Selby swerved to the left before mounting a footpath at 23km/h and striking multiple pedestrians.
Simpson was shown CCTV footage of Selby turning the bus away from Brisbane’s Central train station at an intersection before swerving onto the footpath.
Video from a security camera inside the bus then showed Selby steering with one hand in the seconds before the crash.
A blameless accident was not the only explanation for Cameron’s death, prosecutor Susan Hedge previously said.
“The other explanation was he was careless. People make mistakes. People make errors,” she said.
Selby should be found guilty as his conduct behind the wheel as a professional driver fell below the reasonable standard, Simpson heard last month.
There was no jury and Simpson determined the verdict.
-with AAP
