Pot-smoking bus driver nailed for killing man

The driver, whose age and identity were not revealed, was handed a suspended 18-month jail term by a police court, the Tribune de Genève newspaper reported online on Tuesday.

The sentencing last week came more than three years after the collision, which occurred on a downtown street on December 19th 2011.

Angry that a Golf car, driven by a woman, had stopped in the way of the articulated bus to let off a passenger, the bus driver sounded his horn, the court heard.

The car driver proceeded down the street but stopped again in front of the bus.

According to a witness the bus driver then rolled down his window and said: “If you don’t budge, it’s me that will budge you”, the Tribune reported.

The woman advanced the car but not enough, so the bus driver accelerated and rammed the 20-ton bus into the Golf.

In the process a pedestrian was squeezed between the bus and the car.

The man later died of his injuries after being taken to hospital.

Lawyers for the victim's family are seeking 1.8 million francs in damages from the Geneva transit authority (TPG), claiming that it failed to do the necessary checks to ensure the driver was not intoxicated before getting behind the wheel of the bus.

The bus driver, who was found to have a level of THC in his body above what is permitted, admitted to having smoked a few joints several days before the accident during time off work.

In addition to the homicide charge, he was convicted of driving in an "incapacitated state".