A CORONER has suggested mirrors should be installed on double-decker buses to allow drivers view passengers on the stairwell after a woman died when she fell backwards down the stairs of a moving Dublin Bus vehicle.
Maureen O’Sullivan (70) of Knockroe, Clones Road, Monaghan was a passenger on the 41C bus which was travelling in the direction of town, on the morning of February 15th, 2008, when the incident occurred.
Ms O’Sullivan, who was visiting Dublin with her brother, had almost reached the top step of the when she lost her footing, tumbling down the stairs.
Bus driver Christy Reilly told the inquest into Ms O’Sullivan’s death at Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday that he had moved away from the bus stop at the junction of Shanowen Road and the Swords Road and was moving around a very slight bend at a speed of about 20km an hour when he heard a gentleman shout, “Stop the bus.”
Mr Reilly, who stopped the bus, saw Ms O’Sullivan lying on the floor of the bus. Mr Reilly said there wasn’t anything in the movement of the bus that caused the deceased to fall.
Although conscious immediately after the incident, Ms O’Sullivan rapidly lost consciousness.
She died of head injuries caused by the fall at the Mater hospital the following day.
Garda Nuala Bruce of Mountjoy Garda station, who viewed CCTV footage of the incident, told the inquest that the deceased was thrown from a considerable height.
She said that the bus did not jerk or make any sudden movement to cause the fall and that there were no suspicious circumstances.