New bus driver knocked over and killed dad-of-four on his second day on the job

A knocked over and killed a football fan on his way home from a match as he “didn’t see him at all”.

Alan Boyd, 35, was driving the single decker vehicle on his own for only the second day ever when he drove into a ram lane without warning and hit dad of four Allan Moir in at around 18mph. The pensioner, 79, was tended to by paramedics, but later died,

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Boyd told police during interview: “I just cannie believe it's happened, I feel really bad for the family, I always have, I’ve said that to ye. That was my second day. I didn’t see him at all, I didn’t see him on the island.”

Boyd, an employee of McGills Buses, pleaded guilty to driving the bus without due care and attention. Prosecutor Anna Robertson said: “The son attempted to call the deceased several times but could not get an answer and thereafter accepted a fare. He received a missed call from the deceased's phone at 5.25pm.

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“At 5.35pm, a single decker operated by McGills and driven by Alan Boyd was travelling westwards on the A8, Atholl Place, Edinburgh. As the bus approached the junction with Morrison Street for reasons unknown it began to straddle the west and eastbound tram lanes before fully moving into the eastbound tramway prior to the Grosvenor Street junction.

“The road is clearly signed ‘tram only’ with paint on the roadway, which would be upside down for the driver, there are also keep left bollards at the traffic island. At this time the deceased was attempting to cross the carriageway from the south to north within the confines of the pedestrian crossing on Clifton Terrace, which was active with eastbound vehicles.

"The deceased was seen to stop on the central island and check to his left before stepping out into the road reaching the second marker of the controlled area on the west side of the crossing area before being struck by the bus on its front nearside. Impact occurred at 5.36pm with a speed of 16mph [taken] from on-board footage from the bus. The deceased suffered head trauma with a heavily bleeding wound to the rear of his skull and a broken left wrist.”

Mr Moir was on his way home from attending the Hearts versus Dundee United match played at Tynecastle Park on February 4 last year. The court heard witnesses contacted the emergency services and rushed to the aid of Mr Moir, and one said the bus driver 'must have made a mistake or been confused'.

Boyd was said to have provided a negative drug wipe and alcohol breath test to the police at the scene and later passed an eye test. Sheriff Ian Anderson deferred sentence for the preparation of reports to next month.