October 02, 2015•Update: October 03, 2015
ANKARA
A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of public bus driver Erol Ayaz on charges of negligence for killing 12 people and injuring 12 others in a recent road accident.
The incident took place Thursday afternoon when the vehicle overran people near a bus stop in Dikimevi neighborhood of Ankara’s Cankaya district.
The driver in his defense told the court in Ankara on Friday that he did not kill the people deliberately and it was the failure of the bus’s brakes that led to the accident.
According to Ayaz’s version of events, he was provoked to move the bus forward on that day near the bus stop when other drivers behind him continuously honked their car horns.
“I lowered the handbrake and stepped on the gas pedal a little to move the bus ahead. However, the bus moved quickly than anticipated. I immediately stepped on the brakes, but the brakes failed and the bus continued to move fast ahead.
“There was another bus in front of me and I steered the wheel to the right to avoid hitting it and then I lost control. The bus continued to drift on pavement, even though I had stepped on the braking pedal all along. The bus did not stop…In this state of panic, I forgot to use the handbrake," he said.
The bus went on to hit several people waiting on the pavement, even as several of them tried desperately to flee. Two other vehicles by the sidewalk were also hit in the incident.
Ayaz insisted that the crash happened due to a technical glitch in the vehicle. "I am sorry. I did not want anyone got hurt," he said.
