A motorist, who claimed £30,000 damages from Dublin Bus for back and knee injuries he received in a rear-ending by a double-decker bus, was held yesterday to have "created an emergency" the bus driver could not have avoided.
Mr Paul Mitchell (28), a fork-lift driver, of Kinsealy, Co Dublin, claimed the bus had driven into the rear of his car when he slowed down in traffic. He denied in cross-examination by Mr Michael Byrne, counsel for Dublin Bus, that he had deliberately stood on his brakes after the bus driver had sounded his horn at him for driving too close to the bus.
Judge Liam Devally, dismissing Mr Mitchell's claim and awarding costs against him, said he was satisfied from a Garda description of the scene that he had created an emergency, giving the bus driver no chance to avoid an impact.