THE DRIVER of the bus that crashed three years ago, causing the deaths of five Meath schoolgirls, has revealed he had never been told the vehicle was supposed to have an anti-lock braking system (ABS).
John Hubble (58) said nobody in Bus Éireann informed him the vehicle was supposed to have ABS, so he had never looked out for a warning light indicating that it was not functioning properly.
Mr Hubble told prosecuting counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, he was “shocked” when gardaí told him after the crash that a bulb was missing from the ABS warning system.
“It wasn’t put there for nothing. The lights were there to alert a driver,” he said on day two of the trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of two companies accused of failing to ensure the safety of the bus.
Evidence from four motorists was also heard by the jury.
They included one who said she never saw the bus’s brake lights come on immediately before the crash near Navan in May 2005; a second woman whose car was struck by the bus before it overturned; and a third who witnessed that collision. Sonya Kelly, company secretary, has pleaded not guilty on behalf of Keltank Ltd, from Balbriggan, to two charges of failing to undertake necessary maintenance and repair of the ABS on the bus on May 6th, 2005.
Joe McArdle, a director, has pleaded not guilty on behalf of McArdles Test Centre Ltd, Dundalk, to two charges of failing to note the ABS warning light on the bus was not operational while conducting a vehicle test on March 15th, 2005, two months before the tragedy.