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Husband's anger after Suburb wife dies under wheels of bus
 | | Iveta Iravanian and husband Leo |
A HUSBAND kissed his wife goodbye and watched in horror as she died under the wheels of a bus, an inquest heard this week.
Iveta Iravanian, 33, of Willifield Way, was struck by a National Express coach as she crossed Grosvenor Gardens in Victoria last February and died of multiple injuries.
A coroner this week recorded a narrative verdict on her death.
Born in Hungary, Ms Iravanian moved to the UK in 1993 to work as a nanny. She changed jobs several times before studying hard to become a solicitor which she had been doing for three months before she died.
Her husband Leo waved goodbye to her less than a minute before she was killed.
He said: "I am really angry that my wife is gone and nothing is going to bring her back. She was a very special lady and a wonderful wife.
"She loved helping charities and reading and she was extremely organised. She started studying law which she loved and often stayed up until three o'clock in the morning working hard.
"She loved life. I miss her a lot, all the time, she was so special to me."
Ms Iravanian made it safely across to the traffic island in the middle of the road but was struck by the bus, travelling at an estimated 29mph, as she tried to reach the pavement on the other side.
The jury inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court highlighted serious issues at the crossing, but witnesses said better safety wouldn't have saved Ms Iravanian.
The court was told there was a gap of only five seconds after the green pedestrian man went off and the amber light came on signalling traffic to go - below Department for Transport regulations of a 12 second minimum.
The jury also heard on the day of Ms Iravanian's death the traffic signal for vehicles turning right had been dislodged and was facing pedestrians - causing confusion about when to cross.
After the accident a police officer remained at the junction all day until the lights could be realigned and said many people had to be stopped from crossing on the wrong signal.
However, witnesses said Ms Iravanian was killed because she crossed when it was clear she shouldn't, not because of the problems on the junction.
They said Ms Iravanian had attempted to cross the two-lane road when the pedestrian man was on red.
One of them was Miles Cresswell-Turner, a cyclist on his way to work.
He said: "I could see her looking to her left and as she reached the island she stopped as a car passed in front of her.
"She swayed from stopping and I could see from the expression on her face that she was deciding whether or not to continue crossing the road.
"At that moment she ran across the first lane and now I think to myself that is a close call and she might not make it.
"I could see the approaching bus which I must say wasn't travelling very fast. As she reached the second lane she slipped on the wet surface and I straight away thought to myself oh no, she's going to die.
"It was impossible for the driver to stop in time. I remember looking at the pedestrian lights and could see the red man showing."
But Mr Iravanian believes his wife was misled by the lights.
Outside court he said: "I am convinced she looked at the lights and got confused because they were in the wrong place."
TfL engineer Mark Beasley admitted that the timings of the lights did not comply with safety standards.
In October last year Transport for London changed the crossing timings and installed a smaller traffic light box in the right hand lane to stop it being so easily dislodged.
TfL have now pledged to completely modernise the crossing and change the layout of the road once funding becomes available.
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