Dublin City Council will review the safety of the plaza surrounding the Spire in O'Connell Street after two women were hit by a Dublin bus at a pedestrian crossing yesterday. Fiona Gartland, Tim O'Brien and Olivia Kelly report
A double-decker bus operated by Dublin Bus struck the women as they crossed from North Earl Street at the pedestrian lights near the Spire around 4.15pm.
One of the women, who is 60, was taken to St James's Hospital with serious head injuries. The other woman ( 56) was taken to the Mater hospital with minor injuries. Both were on holiday from England and had travelled from Mayo for a day's shopping. Six passengers were on the 145 bus, which was travelling from Mountjoy Square to Bray.
It appears the two women stepped off the footpath at a point where it is difficult to tell the road from the kerb. As part of the O'Connell Street area plan, roadspace has been narrowed and the roadway has been raised to the same level as the footpath to facilitate pedestrian access.
People at the scene said the "boulevard effect" may have made the line where the pavement ended and the roadway began more difficult to determine.
A spokesman for the city council said the traffic lights were equipped with an audio signal and the area in which the footpath merges with the roadway was studded with silver discs.
The spokesman said the council would examine the issues this morning. Coincidentally, Dublin city councillors voted yesterday to reduce the speed limit on many city-centre streets to 30kph in an effort to reduced pedestrian fatalities.
A team lead by Sgt Brian Cullen examined the scene along with an investigation unit from Dublin Bus. Gardaí examined marks on the left-hand corner of the bus and measured the distance between the front of the bus and a pair of red sandals that remained on the crossing. Insp Gus Keane from Store Street station said there were a large number of witnesses.
A Dublin Bus spokeswoman said eyewitnesses reported "the driver was driving correctly through a green light". She said the driver had said "he was driving slowly through the light." He had given a statement to gardaí and there was no question of a suspension in what was "a very unfortunate accident".