BEING stuck in traffic probably saved the lives of motorists yesterday when an empty school bus careered across a busy road before plunging into a river in Co Limerick.

The jury in the Ir£151,000 alleged insurance fraud conspiracy trial has been addressed by counsel for the prosecution and the defence on day-12 of the hearing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A consultant engineer has told a jury it would have taken up to seven hours to remove a Scania truck and its load from a ditch into which one allegedly fell after colliding with a Rover car.