Inverness bus driver killed in an accident on the Black Isle was driving too fast, a fatal accident inquiry is told
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CCTV footage showed an Inverness bus driver was driving at 53mph in a 40mph limit seconds before an accident in which he died.
Mohamed Chache (50) was thrown through the windscreen after his bus hit Littlemill Bridge on the B9161 near Munlochy on January 11 last year..
He suffered head and spinal injuries and died of asphyxiation after becoming trapped beneath the vehicle, which landed on its side.
The inquiry at Inverness Sheriff Court heard evidence that Mr Chache was consistently one of Stagecoach's safest drivers, but had been spoken to earlier on the day of the accident about complaints when he failed to pick up a number of passengers on a different route.
He told bosses he had been running late.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said Mr Chache was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
Nine other passengers had to be treated for a variety of injuries.
The inquiry heard from two passengers including Jean Evans (71) who said she had been sitting near the front of the bus with her grandson.
She said the bus left Inverness at 5.20pm.
"I had a feeling he was driving too fast," she said. "When he turned off the A9 he didn't actually stop – he slowed down, but didn't actually stop."
She said she felt the bus was weaving as they went round a bend.
"He did slow down as we approached the bridge," she said. "But the next thing I knew the lights went out. I felt I was in a merry-go-round. It must have been when the bus turned over.
"I ended up sitting on the ground, on glass, in the space where the window had been. I shouted to my grandson who shouted back. I didn't know where he was. It was horrendous."
Mrs Evans said she was aware of ambulances and passers-by arriving to help as she clambered out through the back window which had been broken by rescuers.
She sustained cuts and bruises and was detained overnight at Raigmore Hospital for observation. Her grandson, who sustained a knock to his head, was discharged.
Lynne Cooper (50) said Mr Chache was a nice friendly man and a good driver and she had no concerns about his driving until they approached the bridge.
"I shouted out 'slow down a wee bit' and that was it," she said. "The next thing, I was knocked out."
She said she still suffered flashbacks and difficulty sleeping.
PC Christopher Donaldson said police inquiries had concluded responsibility for the collision lay entirely with Mr Chache as the driver, based on his speed and the nature of the bend.
Mr Chache, originally from Zanzibar, moved to Inverness in 2002 after marrying his wife Sandra who called him the "warmest, most loving man I knew" when she spoke to the Courier in the wake of his death last year.
"He was so sociable and charming," she said. "He was very inclusive and very humorous.
"Mo would have been devastated to know this accident has resulted in injuries and harm to the passengers he cared deeply for."
Mr Chache, who also left a mother, six brothers and two sisters in Zanzibar, became a porter at Raigmore Hospital on first moving to Inverness.
He then passed his bus driver's test and worked first with Sandy Rapson and then Stagecoach when it bought the firm over.
