A bus driver whose skilful swerve ensured her double-decker miraculously avoided ploughing into an out-of-control car on an icy road was hailed a hero today.
Charmaine Laurie, 45, kept control of her bus as she pulled off the manoeuvre to narrowly avoid a potentially horrific collision with a car this week.
Astonishing footage of the near miss in the treacherous icy conditions went viral, and the mother-of-two has since been praised for her incredible quick thinking.
Ms Laurie said passengers on the Edinburgh bus thanked her as they departed following the startling incident that occurred after a red weather and travel warning was issued across much of the UK.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday, the bus driver described how she “got a fright” as she approached the out-of-control vehicle on the dangerously slippery road.
Presenter Ben Shephard praised the mother for her quick thinking, branding her an “absolute hero” as they discussed the near miss on the show.
Ms Laurie said she was unaware of the footage, which made headlines nationally and has been circulated widely on social media, until her husband showed it to her.
“He said ‘have you seen the footage of the bus that just missed the car?’. I said ‘funnily enough something like that happened to me today,’” she said.
“I looked at the video on Facebook and I was like ‘that was me, that was me’, so it was quite funny.”
Describing the moment she carried out the manoeuvre, Ms Laurie said it “happened all a bit quick”.
Speaking to the Edinbugh Evening News previously, she said her “heart was in my mouth” and that she thought the bus was going to hit the car.
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Gareth Smith saw the bus come over a hill at Frogston Brae and head straight towards the car that had veered onto the wrong side of the road.
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The crash seemed inevitable before the heroic bus driver dramatically swerved around the car before also dodging Mr Smith's van that was heading in the opposite direction.
Forecasters have today warned that the UK "is not out of the woods yet" as Britain remained in the grip of an icy blast leaving road and rail commuters trapped in Arctic conditions.
Military rescue operations were launched across the country as hundreds of drivers became stranded in the icy conditions last night.
Storm Emma has already claimed the lives of 10 people including a seven year-old girl who was killed in a car crash in Cornwall as she played in the snow.
