A court has awarded compensation to a woman who sustained injuries by falling on a bus after the driver pulled out sharply from the bus stop, causing her to lose her balance.

In May 2013, Mary Steel (82) of Argyle had just stepped onto a bus outside the Braehead shopping centre in Glasgow when she was trying to find a seat. Suddenly, the bus-owned by the private bus company McGill’s-pulled away from the bus stop, causing Mary to lose her balance. She fell, injuring her shoulder as she hit the floor. Emergency services were called and she was treated by paramedics on-scene. She was then transported to the nearby Southern General Hospital, where x-rays were taken.

The x-rays revealed that she had fractured no bones in her shoulder or arm. In spite of this, Mary suffered continual pain in the region, which caused her to sink into depression. She sought legal counsel, and proceeded to make a claim for compensation against the bus company. She alleged that the driver had shown a lack of care when he sharply pulled away from the bus stop, causing her to fall and sustain her injuries.

The case was heard by Judge Lady Stacey in the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Mary’s legal team argued that Mary should be entitled to compensation due to the nature in which she sustained her injuries while falling on the bus, blaming the manner in which the driver had been handling the bus.

The judge found McGill’s liable for Mary’s injuries as their employee had been negligent, stating:  “In my opinion the defender´s driver failed to ensure that a passenger who had been seen by him to be elderly and unsteady was seated before moving off. In doing so, he acted contrary to the defender´s policy and in breach of common law”.

She further said: “The movement of the bus while the pursuer was not seated caused her to lose her balance and fall”. The judge awarded Mary £10,000 as compensation for the injuries to her shoulder and for her subsequent depression.