A cyclist who suffered serious injuries when he crashed head-on with a bus in Dublin traffic has had his €60,000 personal injury claim rejected by the courts and must also pay more than €15,000 in legal fees arising from the case. The cyclist in question was riding behind a bus and decided to overtake it as the driver began to slow to a halt.
However, the cyclist then crashed into an oncoming bus and suffered a fractured knee as well as injuries to his chest and shoulder, requiring hospitalisation. The court heard two other buses were stopped and blocking the cycle lane in the area at the time.
The incident occurred on Custom House Quays, in Dublin's north inner city, where cyclist Badr Benn Taller was riding behind the bus that began to pull in. As the driver slowed to stop, Taller indicated his intention to overtake the bus but when he moved out to do so he crash head-on into an oncoming bus.
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Judge Terence O'Sullivan, at Dublin's Circuit Civil Court, told Taller - an intellectual property data analyst - he was very unlucky as two other buses were blocking the cycle lane at Custom House Quay, which caused him to ride around the moving bus.
Judge O'Sullivan said when buses block cycle lanes it "creates problems for cyclists" who have to get around them. However, he said when Taller moved to his right to overtake the slowing bus, he was at an angle, came out from behind the bus and was hit by the oncoming bus driver.
He added that driver - Declan Murphy - had been unable to avoid hitting Taller because he, Taller, moved so quickly from behind the other bus.
“This was a head-on collision and when you collide with a bus you are always going to come off second best,” Judge O’Sullivan said, according to The Irish Times.
