Police have filed a criminal charge against an Auckland bus driver who was behind the wheel when an elderly pedestrian was fatally hit two months ago.

The 30-year-old appeared at Auckland District Court for the first time on Friday.

He has not yet entered a plea for the charge of carelessly operating a vehicle, causing death. He is set to return to court later this month.

The charge, common in fatal accidents, carries a maximum possible punishment of three months’ imprisonment and a $4500 fine.

Police previously reported that an 83-year-old woman had been hit by a bus near the intersection of Onehunga’s Church and Lower Municipal streets just before 11.30am on Monday, August 4.

The woman, later identified as Māngere Bridge resident Pamela Marion Biggs, was pronounced dead a day later.

“Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this difficult time,” Senior Sergeant Wayne Gear said at the time.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.