The High Court has dismissed a personal injury claim against Dublin Bus arising from a collision on Terenure Road North in Dublin almost 18 years earlier.
Denis Flanagan was injured on 9 May 1991 after a Dublin Bus vehicle came into contact with the driver’s door of his parked car and pulled the car forward.
Mr Flanagan told the court that he had parked entirely on the pavement near a bus stop while visiting a shop. He accepted that the parking was illegal. He said he began to get out, saw the bus approaching and pulled the door mostly closed before the bus stopped nearby to let passengers off.
His case was that part of the rear of the bus subsequently caught his door as the vehicle moved away. Independent witness Pauline Nolan, who had just left the bus, recalled seeing the car being dragged towards her and said the rear of the bus appeared to be caught on it.
Dublin Bus engineer James Watson accepted that the rear of a bus could swing over a pavement if the vehicle turned sharply away from the kerb. However, he said that if the bus travelled parallel to the kerb, the likely explanation was that the car door had been open far enough to catch part of the bus.
Mr Justice Peart found that Mr Flanagan’s car was fully on the pavement, about six inches inside the kerb. He found no evidence that the bus mounted the pavement, swung over it as it moved off, or had a defective protruding part.
The judge concluded that the car door had probably remained sufficiently open to make contact with the rear of the bus. As Mr Flanagan had not proved negligent driving, his claim was dismissed.
The ruling meant the court did not have to assess damages or decide Dublin Bus’s separate allegation that Mr Flanagan had knowingly given false or misleading evidence.