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A bus driver who got behind the wheel at twice the drink-drive limit after boozing overnight with his mates has avoided jail.
Frank Okanlawon smashed an Arriva single decker bus into a property in Gore Road, Dartford, at 8.20pm on Saturday, May 23.
The 56-year-old, of Wellington Street, Gravesend, was found guilty of dangerous driving by Medway magistrates back in January, having denied the charge at a previous court appearance, and was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday.
He was given four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and a year-long curfew of 6pm to 6am each day, plus a three-year driving ban. He also has to pay costs of £390.
Okanlawon, who is no longer employed by Arriva, had previously admitted to driving above the alcohol limit after a blood test found he had 166 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
The legal limit is 80 milligrams, but Okanlawon insisted to magistrates that it had no impact on his driving.
He had been out drinking with friends the night before and did not stop until about 9am, seven hours before he was meant to start work.
He overslept and did not arrive until just before 6pm, when he took over the Arriva 423 service from another driver who had been covering from him. His shift was scheduled to end sometime between 11pm and midnight.
CCTV footage from the bus prior to the crash was shown in court. It showed him driving without incident, but the vehicle eventually left the road at the roundabout of Darenth Park Avenue and struck a small wall at the front of a house in Gore Road.
It continued into the driveway and damaged two cars, before coming to a rest when it hit the wall of the next house along. There were no passengers on board at the time and no injuries.
Okanlawon said the bus should not have been used on the 423 route. He said it was a larger and heavier vehicle mainly reserved for the 477 route, which operates on main roads where there were fewer narrow streets and tight turns.
Having been a bus driver for 18 years, and an Arriva driver for four, Okanlawon said he had become used to driving smaller buses on the 423 service.
“You come across a lot of tight roads, which from my experience bigger and longer buses should not be used on,” he said.
“I reckon that bus should not have been on that route. It’s a very heavy bus and with the condition of my hand I should not have been driving that bus.
“I could not refuse to drive it because I was taking over from another driver and the bus was already on the route. It was already running about 20 minutes late.”
Previous coverage
Bus driver found guilty of dangerous driving
First appearance at Medway Magistrates
Couple describe moment bus hit their home
Okanlawon has a clawed left hand after a pole he was leaning on was struck by lightning while on holiday two years ago. He is undergoing therapy and takes medication to treat it, and last year had 64 days off work.
He had hoped to be given an early medical in the hope of securing an early redundancy, but said he was unable to book any regular appointments at Darent Valley Hospital, and found it difficult to find the time to do the therapy at home.
He said the condition of his hand made the bigger vehicle’s steering feel heavy, and the brakes did not work as they should have done as he approached the roundabout.
An inspection of the bus carried out afterwards found no faults that would have contributed to the collision. Neil Taylor, from the DVLA, said the general condition of the bus was good and that the steering and brakes were both fully functional.
Defending himself, Okanlawon said: “I was driving at the speed I would usually have driven on a smaller bus. I am so used to driving the smaller buses that I did not take notice of my speed.”
He added: “Really when I woke up I felt alright to drive. I was in a fit state to drive, otherwise I would not have got out of bed.”
Magistrates told Okanlawon that a combination of his injury, drinking, tiredness, and prescribed medication meant he was unfit to be driving the bus.
He was also told that he was driving too fast at the time he lost control of the bus, and the vehicle was suitable for the route he was driving.
