Bus driver crossed onto incorrect side
The defendant pleaded guilty at Castlebar District Court.
A bus driver almost collided with three vehicles after crossing onto the incorrect side of the road.
Aidan Murray, aged 75, of College House, St John’s College, The Folly, Waterford pleaded guilty at Castlebar District Court to careless driving.
Gda Fergal O’Gara said he was alerted to an accident on the N17 at Castlegar, Claremorris, on July 21, 2022. When he arrived at the scene, he noted that a bus had veered across the road, narrowly missed three vehicles and struck a barrier. There were no passengers on the bus and no reported injuries or damage to any of the other vehicles.
Gda O’Gara spoke to the driver, Aidan Murray, who claimed he was trying to avoid a bollard on the road.
“I spoke to witnesses who said the bus narrowly missed three cars as it made its way across to the other side of the road,” Gda O’Gara told the court. “The witnesses all said there was apparently no bollard there.”
Judge Fiona Lydon said she was none the wiser about what happened, asking: “Did anything else distract him?”
The retired father of one insisted there was a bollard. Solicitor Brendan Donnelly said his client has “more or less an unblemished 50-year driving record”, with just one previous conviction.
Adjourning the case to February 23, Judge Lydon ordered Murray to complete the Pro-Social driving course.
