Jogger fatally hit by bus did not hear or see the vehicle coming

File photo / APN

A jogger who died after being hit by a bus in Wellington apparently did not see or hear the vehicle coming.

Geok Ling Phang, 42, was wearing headphones and wrap-around sunglasses, Coroner Ian Smith was told at an inquest in Wellington today.

The victim was having her usual morning run near her Brooklyn home when she was struck as she approached the bus stop at the corner of Brooklyn Road and Washington Avenue about 8.30am on November 13, 2009.

An ambulance was on the scene quickly but Mrs Phang died soon after in Wellington Hospital from "overwhelming" injuries, said Constable Carmen Stewart.

Police had found no criminal liability on the part of the Go Wellington bus driver.

Mrs Phang had stepped from the narrow footpath onto the road to overtake a pedestrian as the bus came downhill.

The inquest heard that the jogger did not look both ways. The front of the bus hit her as it pulled over to the stop where a number of commuters were waiting, and she was run over by the left rear wheel.

Weather conditions were excellent, Constable Glenn Marshall of the Wellington Police Serious Crash Unit said. It was a dry, clear, sunny morning.

The victim was possibly distracted by her music and her sunglasses may have obscured her view.

He said other visibility factors which could have contributed to the fatality were the curved road, narrow footpath, parked vehicles and overgrown vegetation.

One of the witnesses, Kieran Lamberton, said he was late and had to run to the bottom of Washington Avenue to catch the bus for work.

He raised his hand to signal the driver as it came around the corner. At the same time he became aware of a jogger stepping onto the road, "totally unaware" of the approaching bus.

Mr Lamberton yelled out to the driver and then boarded the bus.

"He didn't speak to me. He was in shock. I patted him on the back and said 'it isn't your fault mate'."

As Judy-Ann Allen drove by she recognised her friend out on her regular run.

The slowing bus was close to Mrs Phang and suddenly Ms Allen could no longer see her.

"I thought she might have been clipped by it. I noticed an object underneath (the bus) as it was pulling into the kerb."

The vehicle lifted, as if it had hit the kerb. She parked her car and ran back to the scene.

Nina Lawson was a passenger on the bus, sitting by a window on the left side. She saw a woman running close to the road as the bus slowed down approaching the stop.

"The next thing I heard a massive whack and I knew straight away we had hit the woman I had seen jogging."

Weeping as she gave evidence, Ms Allen said: "I felt a large bump as the bus ran over her."

She did not think the driver could have done anything to avoid the victim.

Wellington City Council senior traffic engineer Stuart Bullen told the coroner the council had reviewed Brooklyn Road near the intersection with Washington Avenue and was undertaking changes to make the area safer.

Reserving his findings, the coroner said the fatality was a "very tragic and sad matter."