Inquest hears bus ticket machine creates blind spot

The family of a woman who was crushed by a bus has called on Bus Éireann to review the positioning of ticket machines in its fleet after it emerged that one of the devices blocked a driver’s view seconds before the tragic accident.

The design of the roads around Cork’s main bus station at Parnell Place also played a role in the death of Monica Bennett last year, Cork City Coroner’s Court heard yesterday.

Two Garda experts told city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane that the positioning of the ticket dispensing machine on the dashboard of the coach created a significant blind spot and impaired the driver’s vision of the exact area of the vehicle which struck the victim.

Ms Bennett, 66, from Marion Park, Blackrock, died instantly from catastrophic injuries after she was struck by the coach as it made a left turn from Anderson’s Quay on to Parnell Place to park at the bus station just before 5pm on Oct 7 last.

A second pedestrian died after a similar accident in the same area in June.

The inquest heard how Ms Bennett crossed from Merchant’s Quay at an undesignated crossing, and didn’t seem to see the bus.

The bus driver, Romanian national Marian Foamete, had driven the vehicle from Fermoy and had about 25 passengers on board as he approached the station.

“I stopped on the quay before I have to turn left,” he said.

“I looked and there was nobody in my path and I proceeded to the stop area to let people disembark.

“Then I heard a bang underneath the bus. I never saw anybody. I checked the mirrors. I never saw anybody... It happened so fast — half a second.”

Mr Foamete, who has been driving buses for five years, said he was in total shock and couldn’t move.

Eyewitness Simon O’Leary was waiting for a bus and saw the tragedy unfold: “I saw two women cross the road. The younger lady made it across but the elderly lady was slower.

“She did not look. She had a smile on her face as she was crossing. She was just looking at the bus station... She was about two feet from the footpath when she was struck.”

Garda Steven O’Shea, a public service vehicle inspector, said the positioning of the ticket-dispensing machine impaired the view from the driver’s seat of an area to the left side of the vehicle — the area where Ms Bennett was struck.

“The natural contour of the dash of the bus tapers downwards in this area to not impair the driver’s field of vision. But the ticket dispensing machine does the exact opposite,” he said.

Garda Ray Sweeney, a forensic collision investigator, said the position of the machine created a significant hazard to the left side of a driver’s field of vision.

He said as Ms Bennett crossed on a lower section of road, the driver as he was turning was further disadvantaged because Ms Bennett’s “effective height” was reduced by 9cm.

Assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said Ms Bennett died from total laceration of the brain stem due to a road traffic accident.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and urged that the proposed road safety upgrades around Parnell Place proceed as quickly as possible, and that funding be provided.

Ms Bennett was well- known and well-loved in Blackrock.

Speaking afterwards, her son, Stephen, appealed to Bus Éireann to examine the positioning of the dispensing machines.

“We loved and adored our mum and we miss her very much,” he said. “We are all devastated by the events of last October and it’s been a very difficult time for us.”

Road revamp

A major €1.5m road and pedestrian safety upgrade is due to begin around Parnell Place early next year.

Two pedestrians have been killed in the area since last October.

Cork City Council confirmed to city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane yesterday that €300,000 has been secured for the first phase of the work, with a commitment from the National Transport Authority that the rest of the funding will be forthcoming.

New pedestrian crossings and plazas will be installed, the number of traffic lanes will be reduced and left turns from Anderson’s Quay on to Parnell Place will end.

Preliminary design for the scheme began last year but no there was no funding to do the work, the inquest heard.

In a letter to the coroner, council roads engineer, John Stapleton, said the scheme, which has had input from Bus Éireann and gardaí, will be advertised publicly over the coming weeks.

A road safety audit of the area will take place in September, construction is due to begin in early 2012 and should be completed by Nov 2013. Up to 10,000 passengers use the bus station daily.