Bus driver acquitted of negligence over 2012 Floriana crash

A court has ruled that the bus driver who was behind the wheel when his Arriva bus skidded and crashed at Floriana in 2012, injuring over twenty people, had not been negligent and was not responsible for the incident.

The 36-year-old driver from Qormi had been charged with causing damage to the historical Portes des Bombes arch in Floriana, reckless driving and criminal negligence, which led to at least ten passengers suffering grievous injuries and 13 passengers being slightly injured. 

The judgement, handed down by magistrate Simone Grech on May 25, lists 16 passengers as having testified, together with a summary of their testimony. Nearly all of these witnesses told the court that rain had been drizzling and the road was wet at the time.

This was confirmed by court experts appointed during the magisterial inquiry, who also found that the tyres did not have the required grip depth and should never have been used on a road-going vehicle. This fault had either been overlooked or ignored by the mechanics, engineer and supervisor responsible for maintenance, the court was told.

It was also ascertained that the driver had been travelling at a low speed and the wet and oily road surface was also more slippery than usual. 

The court noted that every driver was presumed to be in control of his vehicle whilst on the road, and therefore had to provide an explanation when control of a vehicle was lost. In this case, the evidence clearly showed that the cause of the fateful skid was not driver negligence, it said. “In the eyes of the court, he had been driving carefully and had tried to avoid colliding with the Portes des Bombes..head-on,” ruled the magistrate,

It was also observed that the bus did not belong to the driver, nor was he responsible for its maintenance. It had been inspected by several Arriva technicians and had even passed its VRT before the incident, the court noted, highlighting that at the time, bus drivers were simply allocated a route and a bus by the company and would use the equipment provided by their employers.

Finding no fault in the driver’s actions on the day, the court acquitted him of all charges.

Lawyers Stephanie Abela and Vince Micallef appeared for the driver.