Report into fatal Dublin bus crash to be delayed

Dublin Bus has said legal delays will prevent it from meeting the six-week deadline for publication of the report of its inquiry…

Dublin Bus has said legal delays will prevent it from meeting the six-week deadline for publication of the report of its inquiry into the fatal bus crash at Wellington Quay which claimed five lives.

In its first statement on the progress of the inquiry, released last night, the company said it was adjusting its time-scale because of "legal considerations".

No information on the cause of the crash has been disclosed.

The accident, on February 21st at Wellington Quay, happened when an out-of-service bus passed a stationary Maynooth-bound bus on the inside, mounted a kerb and collided with passengers queuing to board the Maynooth bus.

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The inquiry committee, headed by the chairman of the audit review group in Dublin Bus and former head of Opel Ireland, Mr Arnold O'Byrne, was due to publish its report this Friday.

However, it is understood that the company's legal team has stopped its release because it may prejudice the Garda investigation into the crash.

Gardaí confirmed yesterday that a man was arrested last Saturday in Dublin in connection with the accident. He was later released without charge and a file has been sent to the DPP.

While a Garda spokesman would not confirm if the man was one of the drivers of the two buses involved in the crash, he said the investigation was now "near completion".

The team investigating the accident for Dublin Bus is believed likely to cite an error by the driver of the out-of-service bus as a cause of the accident.

The team is understood to have definitively ruled out the possibility that the accident was caused by any mechanical failure.

It is understood that Dublin Bus is obliged to pass the report to the drivers of the buses in the first instance.

They will have some days to respond to its findings before publication.

A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said its inquiry was at a "very advanced stage" and the company intended to publish a full report "as speedily as possible"..

She added: "We estimate that the report will be ready in weeks, not anything longer."

The driver of the out-of-service bus at the time of the crash had an accident-free 20-year record with the company.

The colleague he had taken over from had been with the company for 10 to 12 weeks, while the driver of the Maynooth bus had been employed by Dublin Bus for more than a year.

It is understood that the report will make a series of recommendations about the location of bus stops in Dublin.

Dublin Bus is likely to seek a role in the process which is currently the responsibility of the Garda and the Dublin local authorities.