AN 80-YEAR-OLD woman was “thrown through the air” and killed after being hit by a bus in High Wycombe, a court heard today.

Wladyslawa Polatajko died after a bus being driven by John Houghton collided with her while she was on a zebra crossing in Desborough Road on August 1 last year.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard Houghton's driving was “far below the standards expected of a competent and careful driver”.

Robert Spencer-Bernard, prosecuting, told the eight male and four female jurors: “The crown's case is if Mr Houghton had been driving as he should have been, the collision and the death would never have occurred, or he would have slowed in such a way he would have been able to see and stop, should there have been anyone emerging.

“The crown say he did not, and that that is dangerous.”

The bus was “in good order”, said Mr Spencer-Bernard.

“There was nothing about its condition which could have contributed to, or caused, this accident,” he told the court. “The issues in this case relate purely to the manner of Mr Houghton's driving.”

The court heard Mr Houghton was travelling at no more than 21mph when the accident happened.

“Nobody makes any complaint about his driving on the journey from Thame through Stokenchurch to High Wycombe, but it was in Desborough Road some passengers spoke of sudden braking which caused them to be thrown forward,” said Mr Spencer-Bernard.

One witness said he saw Mrs Polatajko “being thrown through the air” and another described her as “walking normally” before the collision, the court was told.

It was estimated Mrs Polatajko had walked five and a half metres across Desborough Road when she was hit, said Mr Spencer-Bernard.

“Mrs Polatajko would have been walking across the road for something between four and a half and six seconds before being struck,” he said.

She hit her head on the kerb, the court heard.

Mr Spencer-Bernard said a transit van travelling in the opposite direction would have obscured Houghton's view of the pedestrian.

But he added: “The Highway Code says where that position occurs you have still got to go very, very slowly in case somebody does step out, as they are entitled.”

Houghton, 57, was interviewed on the day of the accident and told police Mrs Polatajko was “walking briskly” over the crossing.

In a second interview on September 30, he said to officers he had not seen the pedestrian until “he was virtually on top of her”.

He told officers: “I tried to avoid hitting a woman that was on the crossing that didn't give me an earthly chance of stopping. She didn't even look in my direction.”

The weather was fine, dry and clear on the day of the collision, the court was told.

Mr Spencer-Bernard said: “Mrs Polatajko was wearing light coloured clothing, not in any way blending into the background.”

Houghton, of Hatters Lane, High Wycombe, denies causing death by dangerous driving. The trial continues.