This is the moment a TfL bus driver takes his eyes off the road to get a chocolate bar, striking and killing a senior citizen.
The Inner London Crown Court heard that Garfield Balfour, 50, knocked over Arthur Gowrie, 88, in Southwark as he rummaged through his taxi for a goodie.
Mr. Gowrie, who had a walking stick and was pulling a shopping cart, was struck by the No. 35 bus while attempting to cross the street by weaving in and out of standstill traffic.
After sustaining a severe brain injury in the collision on August 2, 2019, he passed away two days later.
Prosecutor Wayne Cranston-Morris stated, “Balfour stopped the bus and grabbed a candy bar.” However, he then decided to start driving the bus without looking ahead.
Nigel Peters, the judge, remarked, “So it’s chocolate, foot off the brake, and a slight movement?”
Mr. Cranston-Morris responded, “It’s not only foot off the brake; it’s foot on the gas.”
This is the moment a TfL bus driver takes his eyes off the road to get a chocolate bar, striking and killing a senior citizen.
50-year-old Garfield Balfour knocked over 88-year-old Arthur Gowrie in Southwark while searching for a treat.
Mr. Gowrie, who had a walking stick and was towing a shopping cart, was struck by the No. 35 bus as he attempted to cross the street by weaving around stalled traffic (not pictured)
Before stepping onto the roadway, the deceased looked right and left; he did not simply step onto the highway.
CCTV footage displayed in court revealed Mr. Gowrie entering the road with his shopping bags and passing in front of the bus before being struck.
Mr. Cranston-Morris stated, “The defendant had no hands on the driving wheel and was not looking ahead.”
Ms. Elizabeth Lambert, the defense attorney, stated, “After he picked up the candy bar, the victim was in his blind zone, therefore he could not have seen him.”
“It is evident from the footage that the pedestrian tragically entered the road directly in front of the bus.”
“This defendant is a seasoned bus driver with no prior convictions.
This catastrophe was the result of a series of terrible occurrences. This person crossed the street out of necessity.
No driver could have anticipated that the decedent would cross the road. By the time he sits back down, the victim is in his blind area and crossing the road in a manner that most drivers would not have predicted.’
Garfield Balfour had stopped the bus and retrieved an unidentified chocolate bar.
According to TfL statistics, there have been nine documented injury collisions at this intersection.
Judge Peters stated, in passing sentence, that all road deaths are tragic and ones in which things may have been different.
“We all know how dangerous it is to be a driver or pedestrian on a busy road, and statistics show that a large number of people suffer death, personal injury, or accidents on busy roads like the Walworth Road, where this accident occurred, where traffic is moving at a slow speed and pedestrians and cyclists dart into busy streets.”
This incident occurred in broad daylight around 4 p.m. Mr. Gowrie, who is 88 years old, was walking home with a walking stick and a shopping cart.
When the traffic came to a halt, he used the opportunity to cross the street, since he had been waiting on the curb with a large crowd.
This defendant has been driving London buses with a spotless record since 2016.
Nobody implies that he began that day doing anything other than his work and doing it well.
He consciously chose to help himself to a chocolate bar that was lying on the floor.
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He accomplished it by looking down, away from his regular field of view, and picking up the candy bar from the floor.
“As traffic began to move, he moved very gently from the brake to the accelerator.”
As anyone would, his hands were not on the steering wheel; he was fixated on the chocolate bar.
The chocolate bar is opened with two hands. Mr. Gowrie crosses the street as he glances down momentarily at the candy bar.
Mr. Gowrie was not only struck down on the side of the bus, but he had also made it to the front of the bus before collapsing.
Mr. Gowrie fell in such a manner that, due to his advanced age, he suffered a brain injury and died.
Balfour, of Chrysell Road, Stockwell, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving and was sentenced to 140 hours of unpaid labour and a 12-month suspension of his driving license.