The jury in the trial of the bus driver accused of dangerous driving causing the deaths of five people in Dublin city centre three years ago has heard there were no marks to indicate emergency braking either before or after impact at the scene.
Garda Tony Kelly also said that given the maximum reaction time to a hazard on the road of 2.2 seconds, there was still time for the driver to make a decision before his bus had its first collision with a lamp-post.
He was giving evidence on day six of the trial of Kenneth Henvey (51), Whitethorn Crescent, Palmerstown, who has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the deaths of two men and three women at Wellington Quay on February 21st, 2004.
Garda Kelly, of the Regional Traffic Division, examined the scene of the incident and said the road surface was clear from contaminants, and conditions on the day were dry and clear.
The jury earlier heard that a number 66 bus pulled in some distance from the kerb in front of Mr Henvey's parked bus. A crowd of up to 30 people moved forward to board the 66 when Mr Henvey's bus mounted the pavement and hit them.
Garda Kelly said Mr Henvey's bus had been stationary at a distance of 7.5 metres behind the 66. He said he was satisfied that Mr Henvey's bus must have moved forward initially rather than immediately veering left.
Garda Kelly told Patrick McGrath (with Thomas O'Connell SC), prosecuting, that if the bus had immediately moved to the left it would have damaged the 25A bus stop. It had not done so, and had mounted the pavement six metres from the stop.
Garda Kelly said tests were carried out with the bus in question on Wellington Quay on March 7th, 2004, to measure its speed over the relevant distance. They did not take account of the bus mounting the pavement or hitting any objects or people.
He said Mr Henvey's bus travelled a total distance of 28.8 metres. When tested, the bus started from stationary with the handbrake on. When full acceleration was applied and the handbrake was released the bus took an average time of 8.63 seconds to travel the total distance.
The tests revealed that on average it took 3.05 seconds to reach the lamp-post that Mr Henvey's bus hit before it came into contact with the 66 bus.
Garda Kelly said that published research indicated reaction times to hazards on the roads were between 1.3 and 2.2 seconds. He said this covered the time a driver took to perceive a hazard, decide what to do and take action. He said he would have expected the maximum reaction time to apply in this case, and that there should still have been time for the driver to reach a decision before reaching the lamp-post.
Terence Baker from Volvo, the manufacturers of Dublin Bus engines, agreed with Patrick Gageby SC (with David Burke BL), defending, that he was aware of "other cases of power surges in Ireland" and that statistical data of the type taken from an electronic unit on Mr Henvey's bus had not previously been used in Irish courts.