A pedestrian who was killed as he crossed a main road in Southbourne had nearly made it to the other side.
An inquest held last week in Chichester heard Vyantas Abromavicius, 55, was at the A259 close to the junction of New Road when he decided to cross at the last minute, straight into the path of a bus which had been picking up pupils from Bourne Commun
ity College.
Patrick Dollery was driving the Emsworth and District bus towards Bosham when the accident happened at around 3pm on December 10 last year.
The inquest heard he had no chance of avoiding the collision.Mr Dollery, from West Leigh, Havant, said he saw a pedestrian in the middle of the road, but thought he was going to stop. Instead Mr Abromavicius looked up, saw the bus, then darted across the road.
Mr Dollery braked and steered left to avoid him, but clipped Mr Abromavicius with the front nearside of the bus just before he reached the curb.
A doctor and nurse from the nearby surgery were alerted to the accident by passers-by and administered first aid, but Mr Abromavicius later died in St Richard's Hospital from a head injury.
The inquest heard Mr Abromavicius, from Lithuania, was visiting his daughter and son who live in the Chichester area and had been sightseeing that day. Mr Dollery had been driving between 25 and 30 miles per hour and told the inquest driving conditions and visibility had been good.
"He was on the other side of the road, he was on the righthand side of the road and he was walking across the road looking at something, not looking at what was on the road or anything that was coming, he was looking down," he said. "I thought he would stop after he lifted his head."
Witnesses said Mr Dollery had no time to avoid Mr Abromavicius as he had decided to cross at the last minute.
Forensic collision investigator for Sussex Police, PS Adrian Shaw said there was no evidence to suggest Mr Dollery had been driving fast and it was always easier for pedestrians to avoid vehicles.
"Once the bus has decided on a course of action the bus can't change its course of action – Mr Dollery becomes a passenger in his own bus. The only person who can change their course of action in this situation is Mr Abromavicius."
He told the inquest the bus had been there to be seen.
"Mr Abromavicius made a decision, stuck to it and unfortunately on the day didn't get away with it."
The assistant coroner for West Sussex, Michael Kendall, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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