FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has praised a "hero" bus driver after meeting with her in person.
Dash cam footage captured during the Beast from the East snowstorm last week shows Charmaine Laurie swerving to narrowly avoid a car as it skids into her path.
Sturgeon met with the Lothian Buses driver as she visited the firm, with the Scottish Government currently marking the beginning of apprenticeship week.
The First Minister expressed her gratitude to Laurie and tweeted that she was a "local hero".
Local Hero. First Minister @NicolaSturgeon meets @charmaine6173 and apprentices @on_lothianbuses at start of #ScotAppWeek18 @skillsdevscot https://t.co/HEdjJ2wbQq pic.twitter.com/FsOIZbrhVF
— First Minister (@ScotGovFM) March 5, 2018
Speaking in a television interview with the BBC shortly after the incident, Laurie said: "I just saw through the snow the car U-turn in front of me so I didn't have much time to react.
"I just tried to brake but my back end started to slide out, so I had to take my foot off the brake and just try and glide through the space that was there.
"A lot of it is just instinct but we are trained to be aware of these situations, so that's why I didn't brake heavily."
The near-crash, which happened in Edinburgh last Wednesday, was captured by a van's dash cam.
There were 20 passengers on the bus at the time.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel