Man recalls 'loud pop' as friend was hit by bus after getting out of Uber

An Uber driver whose passenger was struck and killed by a bus says he did not know the alleged victim had opened the door to get out when he drove off.

British tourist Sam Thomas, 29, was killed instantly after stepping into the path of the bus.

Uber driver Nazrul Islam pleaded not guilty on Thursday to negligent driving.

His passenger had travelled the world and his last stop was Sydney – but he was killed on a night-out with friends in June last year.

He had been at a party with two friends when he called an Uber.

The Uber had stopped at traffic lights on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Bathurst Street in Sydney’s CBD when Mr Thomas opened the back passenger door to get out.

“He was sitting and he reached for the door, he was in the motion of getting out,” Mr Thomas’s friend Stephen Ronning told the hearing.

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The car started moving forward.

“I turned across and said, ‘Stop mate, he’s getting out’, then I heard a loud pop,” Mr Ronning recalled.

Behind the wheel of the bus that hit Mr Thomas was Robert Haviland, a driver with 26 years’ experience.

He could be hear screaming in the security vision: “Someone just got out of the car and I think we just ran over him!”

At 3.17am, the streets were quiet and weather conditions were clear.

Mr Islam was not distracted. He says he just did not see or hear Mr Thomas getting out of the car.

The hearing will continue on Friday.