Dublin Bus is investigating an incident which appears to show one of its drivers mounting and driving along a footpath between Rathfarnham and Terenure to avoid traffic.
The incident which took place in the south Dublin suburbs at around 11am yesterday was recorded by a member of the public waiting in traffic and published on Twitter.
In the video, a double decker bus can be seen driving along a footpath in front of houses on the Rathfarnham Road at a point on the road where there is no bus lane. The bus, which is travelling in the direction of Terenure, can be seen moving to the right to avoid a car which is emerging from the junction of Brookvale Road. At this point the bus seems to return to the road to access a bus lane.
The incident has been described as a shocking example of dangerous driving by Dublin city councillors. The episode was raised during a meeting of the council’s traffic and transport committee on Wednesday during a discussion on the Road Safety Authority’s “Be Safe, Be Seen” campaign which encourages pedestrians and cyclists to wear high visibility and reflective clothing.
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Green Party councillor Carolyn Moore said while she was not opposed to any road safety initiative the focus should be on driver behaviour.
“I couldn’t endorse a campaign that puts the onus on toddlers and children to protect themselves from dangerous driving, instead of starting by identifying what the problem is and working on a solution that tackles that,” she said.
“If you take that bus in Terenure yesterday, any pedestrian who stepped out of their front gate into the path of that bus could have been lit up like a carnival and they still would have been injured in that scenario.”
Fianna Fail’s Keith Connolly said the incident was an issue for An Garda Síochána.
“I saw that video myself, I think it was shocking, but ultimately it is down to an enforcement issue. Someone illegally mounting and driving down the pavement is an issue for the guards. it is dangerous driving essentially, and if anyone had walked out on that, it would have been a really bad outcome,” he said.
Fine Gael councillor Anne Feeney said she hoped it was an isolated incident. “Mounting pavements is absolutely a no-no but hopefully it’s an exceptional circumstance.”
A spokesman for Dublin Bus said “a full investigation is underway”.
