A BUS DRIVER was crushed to death after a "bendy" bus rolled into him, an inquest heard.
Michael Hallinan, 54, was trying to fix his vehicle's brake lights in when a colleague in the bus pulled up to help.
John Hind did not put the handbrake on as he left the cab and the bus juddered seven feet forward into Mr Hallinan, Southwark Coroner's Court heard on May 18.
The accident happened on Greenwich High Road just before 6am on December 21 last year.
In a statement read to the court Mr Hind said he got out of his bus to help Mr Hallinan.
After taking "two of three steps" he heard the bus shudder and roll forward, the court heard.
He climbed back into the bus in a bid to apply the breaks, but the vehicle crushed Mr Hallinan.
The 62-year-old claimed the braking mechanism which ensures the bus cannot move when the doors are opened had been overridden.
Accident investigator PC Steven Gilbert said no mechanical failure had been found on Mr Hind's bus.
He said: "In this case the haltbrake was overridden and the handbrake was not on, which we believe caused the bus to roll forward."
Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Mr Hallinan, of Kingswood Avenue, Swanley, Kent, was pronounced dead on arrival at Lewisham Hospital following the accident. He died of multiple injuries.
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