London bus driver in cycle death cleared of careless driving (11/11/09)

A fashion student knocked down and killed by a double-decker bus was swept up under its wheels “like a cardboard box”, a court heard.

Dorothy Elder, 22, was cycling home to Whitechapel when she was hit at traffic lights in Southampton Row, Holborn. The Central St Martins College student died in hospital 11 days later.

Bus driver Leola Burte, 25, denies causing death by dangerous driving. A Blackfriars crown court jury heard how Annie Bruce witnessed the collision from a taxi as she travelled home from the cinema with her boyfriend, Tony, at about 11pm.

“I saw what I thought was a giant cardboard box getting sucked up and hit by a bus,” she said in a statement. “Then I heard a really terrible cry and realised that it was not a box but a person. I got the cab to stop. Tony dialled 999 and went to Dorothy – he is a first-aider.”

Witness Andrew Tomlinson said: “I was walking along the pavement when my girlfriend suddenly screamed. I looked up and saw a person going under the wheels of a double-decker bus. I heard the person scream as she went under the bus. It took me a couple of seconds to register what I had just seen was real. The woman had her eyes open but it looked like she was going into shock.”

The jury was shown footage from the bus’s CCTV cameras which captured the fatal collision on November 11, 2009. Hamish Reid, prosecuting, said: “The issue here is whether Miss Burte drove without due care and attention.”

The bus was stationary at red lights when Miss Elder approached the junction on her bike on the vehicle’s nearside, the court was told.

“As the lights changed Miss Elder moved away. Miss Burte also moved away. Miss Elder collided with the bus and was dragged under the wheels,” said Mr Reid.

“Speed does not appear to have played a part. It may be suggested that Miss Elder should have worn more visible clothing and should not have ridden in front of Miss Burte in the first place.

“However, the prosecution suggests that she was there to be seen and that Miss Burte fell below the standard of a competent driver by not seeing her and failing to take appropriate action.”

• DRIVER CLEARED *****

A London bus driver has been cleared of causing the death of a cyclist after a jury was told the student had changed lanes without indicating.

Leola Burte did not realise she had hit Dorothy Elder, 22, until she heard her clattering under the double-decker and another motorist flashed his headlights, Blackfriars crown court was told.

The fashion student from Central Saint Martins College, just yards from the accident in Holborn, died in hospital 11 days later.

Shocked witnesses told the court of her “terrible cry” as she was dragged under the bus wheels at about 11pm in November 2009.

Ms Elder, wearing a white woolly hat and dark clothing, had cycled up to a red traffic light in Vernon Place behind Burte’s No 98 bus.

Prosecutors claimed Burte, 25, should have seen the cyclist move in front of the bus to turn right and as a result she “fell below the standard of a competent driver”.

But road crash expert Barry Wheeler said Burte’s view of the cyclist may have been obscured by a combination of her cab fittings and windscreen wipers.

He said she was in the middle lane, about to turn right into Southampton Row, when Ms Elder changed lanes in front of the bus without looking or putting her arm out to indicate. Mr Wheeler said there may have been a three-second window for her to spot Ms Elder become a hazard – but she would have been focusing on the more immediate traffic dangers to her right.

Earlier, witness Annie Bruce said she saw the tragedy from a taxi as she travelled home from the cinema with her boyfriend Tony. “I saw what I thought was a giant cardboard box getting sucked up and hit by a bus,” she said in a statement. Then I heard a really terrible cry and realised it was not a box but a person. I got the cab to stop. Tony, who is a first-aider, dialled 999 and went to Dorothy.”

The jury took less than 40 minutes to clear Burte, from Wembley, of causing death by careless driving.