'Hero' passenger steers runaway bus to safety after driver collapses at wheel

A man has been hailed a hero after saving eight passengers on a runaway bus by grabbing the wheel when the driver collapsed.

Stephen Turner, 56, and his wife had boarded the 341 Stocksmoor to Huddersfield service in Yorkshire at 12.30pm on Saturday. They had only gone 10 yards when the incident unfolded.

The driver had collapsed and the bus was careering down a steep hill towards a busy junction when Stephen took control.

He told the Huddersfield Examiner: "I noticed the driver was leaning over but at first I thought he was checking his cash machine.

"But then there was a judder as we caught the kerb and he slumped even further over into the aisle.

"I was the closest and we were going down the bank and I knew I had to stop it before we went through the lights at the bottom.

"My first thought was how to slow the bus down. I couldn't get the driver out of the seat as he was quite a big chap, so I just had to lean over the top of him and grab the wheel.

"I took it into some trees and bushes on the left to slow it down and had to swerve round a lamppost at one point.

"I realised I couldn't go fully into the trees as it might have flipped the bus over. Fortunately it stopped just before we ran out of trees!"

All eight passengers escaped injury, and the driver has been discharged from hospital.

Mr Turner added that he surprised himself by staying "totally calm". He told the Daily Mail: "I'm just glad everyone is safe and unhurt. When the driver came round he had no idea what had happened and his eyes were glazed."

Martin Gilbert, business director at Yorkshire Tiger buses, said: "We want to express our huge appreciation to Mr Turner and his quick thinking and reactions."

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