Schoolgirl injured in bus collision settles action for €58,000

A schoolgirl injured when the top of a bus in which she was travelling was sheared after it collided with a low bridge has settled her High Court action for €58,000.

Kelly-Marie Jackson was on a school trip and travelling with her classmates when the incident happened on January 29th, 2019, in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons said the teenager bit through her lip as a result of the accident and later also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder which has since abated.

In an affidavit to the court, the girl's mother, Anne Davis, said her daughter was 14 years old and was on a school trip with her school, Blakestown Community School.

She said the bridge was too low to allow the bus to pass safely under it, resulting in its top being “cut off and opened backwards like the opening of a tin”.

She said her daughter later told a treating doctor that a number of the children were screaming immediately before the collision that the bus would not fit under the bridge.

Ms Davies said Kelly-Marie suffered injuries as a result of the impact, including soft tissue injuries to her hip and shoulder. She said her teeth had penetrated her lower lip, leaving her with a small scar in her lip area.

Kelly-Marie Jackson (15), of Briarwood Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin, had through her mother sued coach operator Eirebus Ltd over the incident at Shanty Bridge, Mulhuddart.

Liability was not at issue in the case.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Simons said the girl had made a good recovery.