A NELSON school bus driver who was involved in a fatal smash at a notorious accident blackspot in Oswaldtwistle has admitted driving without due care and attention.
Fernando Page, 46, of Whickworth Street, pleaded guilty when he appeared before Hyndburn magistrates yesterday and is due to be sentenced next week.
He was carrying pupils home from Rhyddings High School on February 3 when his Accrington Transport bus collided with a Peugeot 106, driven by 20-year-old architecture student Robert Jamieson, at the Britannia crossroads, in Haslingden Old Road.
Mr Jamieson, of Kingsmead Knuzden, was pulled from the burning wreckage, but could not be saved.
Since the collision his parents, Bob and Susan, have been fighting to have traffic lights, or a roundabout, installed at the junction with Lottice Lane.
Their campaign has won the support of Hyndburn MP Greg Pope and Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe.
An inquest into Mr Jamieson's death in May revealed that he died from multiple injuries and a verdict of accidental death was recorded.
During the hearing, in Blackburn, accident investigator PC John Sutcliffe said that the school bus turned in front of Mr Jamieson's car as he drove towards Knuzden.
He said Mr Jamieson, a former Rhyddings High School pupil, had been driving at around 53mph -- 13mph over the 40mph limit on the approach to the junction.
PC Sutcliffe said: "Had he been driving at 40mph he could have braked and avoided the collision. But the bus driver should have waited for the car to pass before making the right turn."
Speaking after the inquest Susan said: "It is too late for our son, but it is not too late for others..
"We have been told that there have been 26 accidents at this site over the last three years."
Lancashire County Council is completing a feasibility study into the possibility of replacing the junction with a full-sized roundabout.
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