A bus driver who fell asleep at the wheel causing a six car crash had been working 14 hour days, a court heard.
Jonathan Hastings, 38, was driving a bus containing three passengers on Chorley Road in Swinton when he fell asleep.
The bus started to drift to the left and hit the kerb, as it headed towards stationary traffic which had stopped for a red light, Manchester Crown Court heard.
It collided into a car, which then caused a domino effect with six cars in total being damaged.
Four of the cars were written off, and in total £30,000 of damage was caused, following the crash at about 7pm on Thursday, October 11 last year.
Two people were treated for whiplash, but were not seriously hurt.
The bus had been travelling within the speed limit at the time, estimated to be around 25mph.
Hastings, a father-of-one from Salford, was spared jail after he appeared in front of a judge.
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He pleaded guilty to a single count of dangerous driving.
The court was told that Hastings had been working long shifts for Diamond Bus at the time of the crash.
He had started working unsociable hours shifts the previous month, his barrister David James said, and he was still getting used to them.
In the three days prior to the crash, Hastings had worked from 9.30am until 11.30pm, the court heard.
Within that shift pattern, which the court heard is legal, Hastings took a number of breaks.
Mr James said this work had created 'a chronic tiredness that is not so evident', which 'almost becomes part of normal life'.
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"It is that that the defendant feels must have overtaken him," Mr James added.
Hastings had formerly worked in warehouses, a job which he found 'mundane'.
He wanted to find a 'better career to provide for himself and his family', and became a bus driver.
"His full intention is to go back to the type of work he was trying to escape from," Mr James said.
Judge Suzanne Goddard QC sentenced Hastings, of Bournbrook Avenue, Little Hulton, to nine months in prison, suspended for 15 months.
He must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, and was barred from driving for two years.
The judge told Hastings: "This incident could have been so much worse, had you been going at a higher speed on that particular day.
"You as a commercial bus driver know the importance of if you are tired, you have to pull over and make alternative arrangements.
"You didn't pull over.
"That having been said, you are a man of good character. You have no previous convictions.
"I don't think it is necessary for you to be punished to an immediate custodial sentence today."
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