A cyclist who collided with a passenger alighting a bus has been cleared of all responsibility for the accident or having caused her serious injuries.
Judge James O’Donohoe, who last week branded cyclists in Dublin as “a nightmare”, decided on Thursday that Dublin Bus, whose driver allowed the woman step off at an undesignated stop, was fully liable for the accident that caused the woman to be knocked unconscious.
Susan Lennox, counsel for office administrator Ciara Murray (39), told the Dublin Circuit Civil Court that Dublin Bus had joined cyclist Marcin Sroka as a third party to Ms Murray’s €60,000 personal injuries claim. The transport provider alleged he was to blame for the accident.
Ms Lennox, who appeared with Naomi Bourke of Margetson and Greene Solicitors, said all parties agreed on medical reports relating to Ms Murray’s injuries and had valued her damages, should she win, at €25,000. Dublin Bus will now have to pay this amount together with everyone’s legal costs.
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Following the hearing, John Hennessy, of Hennessy Perrozzi Solicitors in Swords, representing Mr Sroka, said it was absurd that Dublin Bus should have, in the circumstances, joined the cyclist as a third party to Ms Murray’s proceedings.
The court heard that when the bus arrived at Ms Murray’s stop in Santry on the Old Dublin Road shortly after 8am on September 20th, 2021, there were two other buses stopped nose to tail. Her bus pulled into line third in a queue and more than 30 metres back from the designated stop.
Ms Murray, of Ashley Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin, said she had been on her way to work and had just stepped off the bus after the driver had opened the doors. She was struck by the cyclist, Mr Sroka, of Boroimhe Birches, Swords, and knocked unconscious. She was sitting on a grass verge when she recovered consciousness and was taken to Beaumont hospital by ambulance.
Medical reports showed she suffered concussion and severe neck injuries. She suffered from headaches and has been left with scars on her hands.
Sean Coleman, of Arthur McLean Solicitors, for Dublin Bus, told Judge O’Donohoe that buses regularly stop in line at bus stops to allow passengers alight. He said CCTV showed Ms Murray stepping onto a pedestrian cyclist joint use path and being hit by Mr Sroka’s bike.
He said it had also revealed that a pedestrian had stepped off the path onto a grass verge due to having noticed Mr Sroka approaching and just a split second before he collided with Ms Murray. He said an expert witness calculated that Mr Sroka was travelling on a downhill gradient at between 30 and 34km/h.
Mr Coleman submitted that Mr Sroka, a sound engineer with Dublin City University and who denied speeding, had to bear a major level of responsibility for the accident. Mr Sroka told the court that, even if he had been travelling at only 10km/h, he could not have avoided hitting Ms Murray.
“The moment she stepped off the bus I had no chance to stop,” Mr Sroka said.
Bus driver Larry Curran told Pat Purcell, counsel for Mr Sroka, he was not at the designated stop when he had opened the doors, something that would often be demanded by passengers in a hurry to work when a bus stopped just short of the stop. He had checked his mirrors and had not seen any cyclist on the path.
Judge O’Donohoe said expert forensic engineer Barry Tennyson made it clear there were breaches of the code of practice for Dublin Bus drivers. Mr Curran himself accepted he breached the code by stopping at an undesignated stop.
Dublin Bus was granted a pause on the court’s finding so it could consider appealing.