First pic of heroine bus driver who swerved round car on snow-bound road
THIS is the heart-stopping moment heroic bus driver Charmaine Laurie swerved around an out of control car on an icy road - narrowly missing it by inches.
The mum-of-two, whose bus was carrying 20 passengers including schoolkids through the snow, kept control as she made the deft manoeuvre to miss both the stranded car and oncoming traffic.
"My heart was in my mouth,” she said. “I actually thought I was going to hit her.”
Brits are now:
- Wrapping up in -15C 'feel-like' temperatures as the Siberian winds make it the coldest spell since 1991
- Dealing with "danger to life" warnings as Storm Emma and the "Beast from the East" clash over the UK - with conditions set to worsen tonight
- Enduring travel chaos as planes are grounded, trains across the south cancelled and roads blocked by several inches of snow
- Stripping supermarket shelves in a desperate bid to stock up on essentials amid fears of being stranded
- Facing the prospect of homes without power and mobile phone outages as the sub-zero temperatures wreak havoc on electricity lines
- Attempting to keep warm as the National Grid issued a "gas deficit warning" - meaning there might not be enough gas supplies to meet demands
Gareth uploaded the video to Facebook yesterday with the caption: "Stay in people. Red snow alert."
Charmaine said she forgot about the incident as she carried on her normal route, and only found out it had been captured on camera when she got home.
“My husband was watching it and I told him it was me and he couldn’t believe it - he said well done,” she said.
It has been viewed over 822,000 times and received more than 4,600 likes.
The clip begins with what appears to be a Mini moving slowly across the icy road .
As it finally comes to a stop, a double decker Lothian bus can be seen emerging through the heavy snow.
Gareth reckons the bus was going at 20-30 miles per hour but despite the car stuck in the way, the driver made a slick manoeuvre to avoid collision.
Gareth can be heard shouting: "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, no!"
He admitted to bracing himself for impact the entire time but managed to reverse his van slightly to avoid the smash.
Speaking today, car detailer Gareth said: "I was stuck on the hill trying to get my van moving when I saw a black car over taking me.
“It skidded onto the wrong side of the road and then I then saw a Lothian bus coming down the hill losing control and drifting past the black car, just missing it and me.
“It seemed to skid a far bit.
“I put my van into reverse and tried to go backwards to avoid the bus hitting me head on.”
Social media users commended the bus driver's quick-thinking, Stevie Galloway said: “Safe to say the driver filming this s* his breeks.”
Kev Robertson joked: “Rumour has it the Stig was driving a bus in Edinburgh today. Looks like rumours are correct.”
Sammi Aitchison added: “That bus driver is something else with that drifting. Well done.”
Anna Grant-Menzies commented: “Drifting a double decker like a pro.”
Storm Emma is now bearing down on Britain and has joined the Beast from the East - creating carnage for Brits.
Today forecasters issued a 'risk for life' red warning in parts of England and Wales and the National Grid put out a "gas deficit warning" today - meaning there might not be enough gas supplies to meet demands as the -15C icy chill continues.
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