A bus driver was yesterday ordered to pay a Public Transport Authority inspector Lm1,064 damages for causing him a two per cent permanent disability.

Mr Justice Albert Magri held driver Raymond Sammut responsible for the accident in which inspector Joseph Rapa was injured.

Rapa claimed in his suit before the Civil Court that he had ordered Raymond Sammut to stop his bus so that he could embark but Sammut started riving off as he was getting on the bus and he had fallen off.

Rapa said the bus drove over his foot and he called on the court to order Sammut to pay him damages.

Mr Justice Albert Magri noted that the accident had occurred in Pioneer Road, Bugibba at about 9 a.m., when Sammut was driving towards the bus terminus to start work. At the time he was not carrying any passengers.

Sammut had seen Rapa waiting on a bus stop, and Rapa had signalled to him to stop so that he could get on.

Although Rapa and Sammut gave different versions of what had occurred, the court found that both versions signified that Sammut was responsible for the accident.

According to Rapa, Sammut had started driving the bus before Rapa had climbed on. Rapa had consequently slipped off and was injured.

On the other hand, Sammut claimed when he started slowing down, Rapa had run towards the bus and had tried to climb on before the bus actually stopped.

The court declared that if Rapa had been on a bus stop, then Sammut was bound to stop at the bus stop itself, and not further along the road.

Furthermore, the bus door was controlled by the driver. Thus, in order for Rapa to climb onto the bus, the door had to be open. This meant that either Sammut was driving with his door open, or that he opened the door before stopping the bus completely.

This was a serious fault in a bus driver, said the court. Sammut was therefore held responsible for the accident, and was ordered to pay damages to Rapa.

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