Graduate David Wood crushed to death under London bus after driver ‘accidentally lowered vehicle’s suspension,’ coroner concludes

'While those who received his organs will never be able to thank you in person, they will benefit from that gesture for the rest of their lives,' coroner tells family

Poplar Coroner's Court (Jim Linwood/flickr/CreativeCommons)

A graduate who had just landed his “dream job” as a radiographer was crushed to death under a London bus the following day after its driver panicked and accidentally lowered the vehicle’s suspension rather than raising it, a coroner has concluded.

Speaking at a hearing at Poplar Coroner's Court, driver Edward Jones-Morrison described how he had been operating buses for 13 years and “had never had an accident” until the one in question on 20 August which involved 22-year-old David Wood.

Originally from Westmill in Hertfordshire, Mr Wood lived in Kentish Town, north London and had just graduated from City University London with a 2:1 degree in radiography (radiotherapy and oncology) in June and was due to start work at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

The court heard how Mr Wood was involved in the fatal collision at Clerkenwell Road’s junction with Farringdon Road which saw the road come to a complete standstill as members of the public rushed to help.

According to reports, workmen present at the scene tried to jack-up the double decker bus which had trapped Mr Wood under the wheels. Despite attempts to save him, Mr Wood died at Royal London Hospital, two days later.

Mr Jones-Morrison told how he got out of the bus after the collision and went to the front where he saw Mr Wood trapped under the wheels. He then went back to the bus where he called for “'code red” who then contacted the emergency services.

He also said: “A lot of people rushed to the bus trying to raise it - to lift it up. They were bystanders. I tried to raise the bus with the kneeling button. I pushed the button but it wouldn’t raise.”

The driver then tried a button known as the ‘ferry switch’ with the intention of raising the vehicle. When shown in an instruction manual in court, the switch displayed an up and down arrow.

When asked by Coroner Mary Hassell if it was possible he pushed the down arrow by mistake, Mr Jones-Morrison replied: “I’m not sure.” He also added he felt he would have been able to work the switch correctly had the situation not been one of panic at the time.


 The scene of the collision at Clerkenwell Road and Farringdon Road in Central London 
 (Google Street View)

As well as concluding how the lowering of the 13-tonne vehicle was more likely to have killed the graduate as opposed to the actual impact of the collision, Coroner Hassell also produced a prevention of future deaths report for bus companies when it came to light the switch used by the driver could also be used to lower as well as raise the bus - a move not made clear in instruction manuals.

Forensic pathologist Dr Simon Poole told the inquest Mr Wood’s cause of death was from “multiple injuries” to his pelvis, chest, and skull and also said that, “on the balance of probabilities” the “crushing injuries” to his skull caused the graduate’s death rather than the collision itself.

One eyewitness who tried to help on the day of the accident, Luke Bellany, had jumped out of his van to help, and told how Mr Wood had been “screaming for help” and was conscious before the bus came down on him.

Mr Bellany added: “Everyone was shouting to raise the bus. It never went up, it went down. There was an eerie silence as if we all knew what had happened.”

Another, Joshua Pearce, said: “Someone was in the [driver’s] seat when the bus lowered down and then people shouted and it stopped lowering.”

In a statement released shortly after Mr Wood’s death, his family revealed how it was “his dream job” that he had wanted ever since he lost his aunt to leukaemia in 2010. It added: “We would like to thank everyone involved in rescuing him.”

Present at the hearing this week, his family told how Mr Wood was an organ donor and had donated both his kidneys and his liver to other patients.

Coroner Hassell told the family: “While those who received his organs will never be able to thank you in person, they will benefit from that gesture for the rest of their lives.”