M50 - Wife hit by bus

Dudley Smith

My wife was traveling on her own this afternoon at about 2.10 between junctions 16 and 15 on the M50. She was going between 80 and 90 kph in the middle lane and was struck by an overtaking bus (brown in color with no remembered markings presumably private). She was unhurt thankfully though badly shaken. The small car she was in (Opel Corsa) was shunted into another lane but she managed to stop the car in the dashed white lines at the junction exit. The motorway brake down lorry appeared and helped her get off the motorway. She rang the Guards who said it’s too minor an incident to send someone out and to go to her local Garda station which she did to report the incident.

She is going to try to claim through MIBI as the car is damaged all along the drivers side with dents and wing lights removed.

Any advice how best to proceed would be great. Many thanks in advance.

Eric Cartman

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Dravokivich

I don't know how the whole MIBI thing works, but if you're suggesting that she was hit by someone else who didn't stop, she needs to get straight onto her insurance, and follow up with a report in a garda station.

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

This isn't really about that. We don't know why she was there in the first place, but if the damage was on driver side, it suggests someone came from her right, so the 3rd lane, not her left.

Boscoirl

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

That’s not how the middle lane works

Dravokivich wrote: »

I don't know how the whole MIBI thing works, but if you're suggesting that she was hit by someone else who didn't stop, she needs to get straight onto her insurance, and follow up with a report in a garda station.

This is what you need to do OP

blueberrypie

Just want to say, I am glad all is ok.
I presume she did not have a dash cam to record footage of the incident . (Yes I am aware of the GDPR issue).
Was there any witnesses?
Don't do anything to the car as I presume they will send someone down to do a visual inspection.

whatawaster

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Why?

NinjaTruncs

There are only two lanes of the M50 between those junctions, so she can't have been in the middle lane. What direction was she going ?

colm_mcm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Eh, no. If she was going faster than the traffic in the leftmost lane she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Speed limit isn’t a minimum.

super_furry

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Hahaha. Love the heads that always pop up with this kind of bull**** nonsense.

killbillvol2

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Wow! Apart from your lack of empathy you're completely wrong.

What an idiotic post.

Dudley Smith

blueberrypie wrote: »

Just want to say, I am glad all is ok.
I presume she did not have a dash cam to record footage of the incident . (Yes I am aware of the GDPR issue).
Was there any witnesses?
Don't do anything to the car as I presume they will send someone down to do a visual inspection.

Many thanks for your kind words.

Sadly no dash cam or witnesses.

Salary Negotiator

OP I don’t think you can claim off the MIBI unless you have the reg of the vehicle that hit you. If you’re hit by an unidentified or unidentifiable vehicle then they won’t help you (at least they wouldn’t help my sister when her car was hit late at night).

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Why’s that then?

SCOOP 64

Overtaking lane, nothing to do with what speed your doing.

colm_mcm

Is it possible to get the M50 crowd to see if they have footage? Surely this is a hit and run type scenario?

fixXxer

There's no GDPR issue with dash cams? Photography in a public place is not illegal or subject to GDPR.

Dravokivich

fixxxer wrote: »

There's no GDPR issue with dash cams? Photography in a public place is not illegal or subject to GDPR.

GDPR is not what you seem to think it is. Its doesn't relate to private data. Also, we are free to record as private individuals in public spaces.

Dudley Smith

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

There are only two lanes of the M50 between those junctions, so she can't have been in the middle lane. What direction was she going ?

Thank you for correcting me on that. She is a bit shook now naturally but is a good driver. She came onto the motorway at Cherrywood (J16) and was heading north and it happened before J15. She eventually had to drive of herself as the break down lorry just clears the road.

To be honest, the car is 2002 so recouping money from MIBI is something we will try as the other party didn’t stop so I am asking for advice on how to identify the lunatic in the brown private bus traveling on the M50 at this time, date and location.

I assume there must be CCTV as she didn’t call emergency services.

DaveyDave

Maybe get a post out on social media see if anyone has dash cam footage of the bus?

You'd be surprised, someone posted some dodgy driving on the M50 in the dashcam thread here and I caught the same thing a few cars back on the inside lane. Interesting seeing it from a different perspective, but also shows you how many people are using dash cams and could have caught it.

fixXxer

Dravokivich wrote: »

GDPR is not what you seem to think it is. Its doesn't relate to private data. Also, we are free to record as private individuals in public spaces.

That's what I'm saying chief.

Strumms

Thing here is a collision between a car and a bus, on the motorway, bus drives on, Gardai are contacted and advises the driver on the receiving end of the hit to make their way to a Garda station ! Even for minor enough contact that’s really shoddy from them.

I’ve never been one to be critical of Gardai but to advise a person, who has just been in contact with a bus, on the motorway to simply ‘drive on’ , are they composed enough emotionally or NOT suffering from shock ? Where they could pose a danger to themselves and fellow road users ? Was the vehicle road worthy after the contact ? Would the driver had sound enough decision making ability to correctly decide this ?

colm_mcm

Would she know the type of bus if she saw it?


A lot of brown coloured buses I see are Turas small buses, made in Maynooth

Yer Da sells Avon

Double-decker? Single-decker? Old? New?

There are people out there who spend their spare time taking photos of buses and posting them online. Maybe go onto Flickr and do a search for Irish buses/coaches and you might find it. It's a small country - there aren't that many buses... and even fewer brown ones.

carltonleon

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Double-decker? Single-decker? Old? New?

There are people out there who spend their spare time taking photos of buses and posting them online. Maybe go onto Flickr and do a search for Irish buses/coaches and you might find it. It's a small country - there aren't that many buses... and even fewer brown ones.

And presumably one that now has a dent or damage on the passenger door side...

Glad that your wife is ok, that must have been scary as hell. She did well to stay in control of the car.

Always Tired

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

Always with the well informed posts that are never a baseless attack of the OP, Cartman.

It's not called the speed minimum, is it?

Mongfinder General

If the bus passed through the toll plaza there’ll be a record of the license plate. Get the license plate and there should be corresponding damage to the bus.

Dudley Smith

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Double-decker? Single-decker? Old? New?

There are people out there who spend their spare time taking photos of buses and posting them online. Maybe go onto Flickr and do a search for Irish buses/coaches and you might find it. It's a small country - there aren't that many buses... and even fewer brown ones.

She said it was a single decker brown coach with no markings she could remember. I can’t believe the driver didn’t feel the contact. The M50 can feel a bit like Mad Max some days. Main thing is she was unscathed though still badly shaken up.

CrankyHaus

Dudley Smith wrote: »

Thank you for correcting me on that. She is a bit shook now naturally but is a good driver. She came onto the motorway at Cherrywood (J16) and was heading north and it happened before J15. She eventually had to drive of herself as the break down lorry just clears the road.

To be honest, the car is 2002 so recouping money from MIBI is something we will try as the other party didn’t stop so I am asking for advice on how to identify the lunatic in the brown private bus traveling on the M50 at this time, date and location.

I assume there must be CCTV as she didn’t call emergency services.

Glad she's alright.

I wouldn't bank on there being CCTV. Really the only CCTV you can rely on is your own dashcam.

Make a formal report of the crime to An Garda, as they're best placed to recover any footage. Fleeing the scene is a seperate offence. I suggest you call traffic watch and ask to be put in touch with Roads Policing to make your complaint. Normal Gardai often think road traffic offences are beneath them and just fob you off (as your wife may have already learned). They may also lack the expertise to investigate properly.

If you feel like following up yourself get as detailed a description of the bus from your wife as possible (size, shape, shade, year, reg, markings, specific route displayed etc) and see if you can identify the company reference to online information like TFI route list, company websites etc.

For UnID'd vehicles MIBI restricts payout to cases with personal injury, or so they say on their website. Check it out.

dashcamdanny

The driver of the bus may be unaware of the collision.

the14thwarrior

devils advocate.......
it may affect her insurance
what proof does she have?
what proof that it was that actual van?
her word that they hit her what if she was in the wrong? or they claim she was in the wrong.
and they could not stop or reverse and made an effort to go back the other way but she was gone, and all the rest.

similar incident happened a friend of mine, and in the end they didn't go through with it because of a lack of proof and "word against word"

Yer Da sells Avon

Dudley Smith wrote: »

She said it was a single decker brown coach with no markings she could remember. I can’t believe the driver didn’t feel the contact. The M50 can feel a bit like Mad Max some days. Main thing is she was unscathed though still badly shaken up.

You'd be surprised. If the driver wasn't paying attention (and clearly he/she wasn't), it may well have felt like a minor bump on the road. Someone side-swiped my bus once with their car and if I hadn't been looking in that mirror at the time, I would've felt nothing.

Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

You have absolutely no idea what she just did or was about to do in that lane- your post has to be one of the most pathetic posts i've seen on boards.ie- getting a dig in no matter what- sorry, but your post fails on just so many levels.

Elemonator

blueberrypie wrote: »

Just want to say, I am glad all is ok.
I presume she did not have a dash cam to record footage of the incident . (Yes I am aware of the GDPR issue).
Was there any witnesses?
Don't do anything to the car as I presume they will send someone down to do a visual inspection.

What GDPR issue?

GDPR only applies to businesses or entities that process data for their operations. Dash cams are for personal use and are exempt.

You are also filming in a public place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

I’d get a dash cam, the incident on the M50 proves their utility. Glad your wife is okay.

Mongfinder General

Mongfinder General wrote: »

If the bus passed through the toll plaza there’ll be a record of the license plate. Get the license plate and there should be corresponding damage to the bus.

It would certainly be an approach- how to go about this though, might prove problematic- it will probably take an approach from the Gardai to get this footage- however, there's also tons of road traffic cameras on the M-50- somewhere, this accident is probably on file - it's about knowing who to contact and how- maybe a solicitor might progress but that of course is cost.

mikewebb1

colm_mcm wrote: »

Is it possible to get the M50 crowd to see if they have footage? Surely this is a hit and run type scenario?

Was just about to post same

Hit and run here?

Get footage checked?

mikewebb1

dashcamdanny wrote: »

The driver of the bus may be unaware of the collision.

Ya they all say that

Cabin noise lol

mikewebb1

mikewebb1 wrote: »

Ya they all say that

Cabin noise lol

Could be:

No public Service Vehicle licence or whatever is required.
No insurance
NI Registered
Drunk
Pr1ck

Any of the above are more likely than "cabin noise"

sdanseo

Eric Cartman wrote: »

If she's going below the speed limit she shouldn't have been in the middle lane....

You need to learn the rules of the road. If she wasn't overtaking she shouldn't have been in the middle lane.

That's of course when there IS a middle lane... !

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

There are only two lanes of the M50 between those junctions, so she can't have been in the middle lane. What direction was she going ?

mikewebb1

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Could be:

No public Service Vehicle licence or whatever is required.
No insurance
NI Registered
Drunk
Pr1ck

Any of the above are more likely than "cabin noise"

Or one of these 50℅ of buses that shouldn't be on the road

Wasn't it only in the news

sdanseo

Strumms wrote: »

Thing here is a collision between a car and a bus, on the motorway, bus drives on, Gardai are contacted and advises the driver on the receiving end of the hit to make their way to a Garda station ! Even for minor enough contact that’s really shoddy from them.

I’ve never been one to be critical of Gardai but to advise a person, who has just been in contact with a bus, on the motorway to simply ‘drive on’ , are they composed enough emotionally or NOT suffering from shock ? Where they could pose a danger to themselves and fellow road users ? Was the vehicle road worthy after the contact ? Would the driver had sound enough decision making ability to correctly decide this ?

Ah seriously get over it. In a non injury collision that is precisely the correct advise, get out of dodge, get off the motorway, don't become an obstacle either blocking or on the shoulder of a 100km/h+ road unless you absolutely have to. If both vehicles are reasonably undamaged and there are no injuries this is just basic common sense.

Unless there is a need for them Gardaí will not and should not attend RTCs. The damage is a civil matter and their purpose in doing so is the safety of other people - i.e. so that the 100,000 people who managed not to crash that day don't hit the obstruction.

In the US these signs are very common

https://twitter.com/NHPSouthernComm/status/971967243343900674/photo/1

listermint

This is why they teach shoulder checks.

Personally think everyone should sit a motorcycle lesson as part of the car test.

It would produce better drivers all round

Rackstar

listermint wrote: »

This is why they teach shoulder checks.

Personally think everyone should sit a motorcycle lesson as part of the car test.

It would produce better drivers all round

Yeah but they were driving a bus......

STB.

sdanseo wrote: »

Ah seriously get over it. In a non injury collision that is precisely the correct advise, get out of dodge, get off the motorway, don't become an obstacle either blocking or on the shoulder of a 100km/h+ road unless you absolutely have to. If both vehicles are reasonably undamaged and there are no injuries this is just basic common sense.

Unless there is a need for them Gardaí will not and should not attend RTCs. The damage is a civil matter and their purpose in doing so is the safety of other people - i.e. so that the 100,000 people who managed not to crash that day don't hit the obstruction.

In the US these signs are very common

https://twitter.com/NHPSouthernComm/status/971967243343900674/photo/1

You're not in the Kansas now Dorothy.

In Ireland you are legally obliged to stay at the scene of an accident and give your information to a garda or on request to the injured party or witnesses. You must also report it to AGS.

"Get out of dodge indeed". That's a feckin hit and run.

sdanseo

STB. wrote: »

Your not in the US, Dorothy.

In Ireland you are legally obliged to stay at the scene of an accident and give your information to a garda or on request to the injured party or witnesses. You must also report it to AGS.

Get out of dodge indeed. That's a feckin hit and run.

It is perfectly acceptable - in practice if not to the letter of the law - for both parties to agree to move to a safer place and you know perfectly well that I was using the word dodge to describe a motorway being a dangerous place for pedestrians, and clearly not advocating hit and run.

At best, crash on M50 should be taken offline ASAP. Quick chat with other driver, up to the nearest exit where traffic slows by half, and sort it out there.

At worst, into the hard shoulder, out of cars and behind the barrier, wait for recovery or other assistance.

In the very specific instance of the person who HAD been hit and run - the advice (given by the Gardaí themselves let's remember) was completely correct.

appledrop

I'm sorry your wife was involved in this + hope she is doing ok. Keep an eye on her over next few days as shock can effect you for a while afterwards as I know from experience.

I think this whole incident is dreadful. Her car was hit by a bus on the motorway at maybe 80/ 90km an hour how is that a minor incident?

Cant believe guards wouldn't come. I'm on M50 everyday + always minor incidences with cars barely tipping each other + blocking up M50 but they refuse to move till Gardai arrive. In fairness I can see were they are coming from. Unless Gardai come can be very hard to follow up with insurance. What did local Gardai at station say? I would consider following up on why Guards refused to come out.

I was involved in very scary incident a few years ago on M50 when lorry lost its load in front of my car. Now I was very lucky guy stayed + apart from some damage to car I was ok. Obviously his fault + minute his insurance company were told Gardai there + what happened paid up immediately. The Gardai were amazing even brought me home as I was in no state to drive! I was effected for weeks after though on M50 because I was very lucky not to have been seriously injured.

STB.

sdanseo wrote: »

It is perfectly acceptable - in practice if not to the letter of the law - for both parties to agree to move to a safer place and you know perfectly well that I was using the word dodge to describe a motorway being a dangerous place for pedestrians, and clearly not advocating hit and run.

At best, crash on M50 should be taken offline ASAP. Quick chat with other driver, up to the nearest exit where traffic slows by half, and sort it out there.

At worst, into the hard shoulder, out of cars and behind the barrier, wait for recovery or other assistance.

In the very specific instance of the person who HAD been hit and run - the advice (given by the Gardaí themselves let's remember) was completely correct.

Its not acceptable EVER to leave the scene of an accident.

It's not the letter of the law. The law is quite clear.


http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1961/act/24/section/106/enacted/en/html#zza24y1961s106

The other vehicle which shunted the other car off the motorway, LEFT the scene of an accident (please at the very least read the original post). There are three potential penalties for leaving the scene of an accident - a fine, disqualification from driving and imprisonment or any combination of the three. An offense was committed.

Too many idiots on the road that don't know the rules of the road.

sdanseo

STB. wrote: »

Its not acceptable EVER to leave the scene of an accident.

It's not the letter of the law. The law is quite clear.


http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1961/act/24/section/106/enacted/en/html#zza24y1961s106

The other vehicle which shunted the other car off the motorway, LEFT the scene of an accident (please at the very least read the original post). There are three potential penalties for leaving the scene of an accident - a fine, disqualification from driving and imprisonment or any combination of the three. An offense was committed.

Too many idiots on the road that don't know the rules of the road.

Just to be clear I'm neither talking about or defending the bus driver. I'm on a hypothetical situation.

The RTA was written in 1961 and that particular part has not been amended. There were no Motorways in Ireland in 1961 and probably very few cars that could comfortably reach 100km/h.

EVen if you chose to rigidly interpret it for no apparent reason other than being deliberately obtuse, then you might read the second subsection:

(b) the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle shall keep the vehicle at or near the place of the occurrence for a period which is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case and having regard to the provisions of this section;[/n]

I think any reasonable person would agree pulling to the shoulder or off the motorway, whilst not attempting to flee or evade due process, is both near and perfectly reasonable.

What you're suggesting is that if I have a fender bender in Lane 3 of the M50, and even if both myself and the other driver agree that being able to draw breath is more important, we should not move the vehicles and inch and preserve the scene until we've taken enough photos as to satisfy ourselves for insurance, exchanged particulars, fulfilled all of the other reasonable obligations and in the unlikely even we are still alive at that point, perhaps done a spot of meditation in Lane 2 for the craic first? I've seen people stopped taking pictures in Lane 2/3 and it's not only horribly dangerous but it causes kilometres of traffic in just a few moments. It's stupid behaviour. Lemmings are more self aware.

STB.

sdanseo wrote: »

Just to be clear I'm neither talking about or defending the bus driver. I'm on a hypothetical situation.

Just to be the clear the thread is not a hypothetical situation. It is a real life scenario posted by the husband of someone who was in an accident on the M50.

sdanseo wrote: »

The RTA was written in 1961 and that particular part has not been amended. There were no Motorways in Ireland in 1961 and probably very few cars that could comfortably reach 100km/h.

EVen if you chose to rigidly interpret it for no apparent reason other than being deliberately obtuse, then you might read the second subsection:

I think any reasonable person would agree pulling to the shoulder or off the motorway, whilst not attempting to flee or evade due process, is both near and perfectly reasonable.

The Road traffic Act was written in 1961 and IT STILL APPLIES today.

It does not matter if its a fúcking motorway or a national road. You do not leave the scene of an accident as you can and will be prosecuted if you get caught.

Now this motorway crap you have in your head. The legislation on speed (totally different to Road Traffic Laws on not leaving the scene of an accident) on roads came in 1963 and was updated in 1969. The national speed limit was 97 km/h.

And someone did flee the scene of an accident in this thread. They weren't doing it in the interests of public safety having exchanged details.

It is not reasonable to be asked to move your car off the motorway when an offense has been committed. Believe it or not - Stay at the scene MEANS "You must stop your car and remain at the scene of the accident for a reasonable time". If one person doesn't, AGS are meant to attend.

That way MIBI don't have to be involved because of an unidentifiable driver which is then paid by everyone because the matter wasn't properly investigated at the time.

K.Flyer

CrankyHaus wrote: »

I wouldn't bank on there being CCTV. Really the only CCTV you can rely on is your own dashcam.

There are cctv cameras along that stretch of the M50 on the illuminated message gantry.
They should contact M50 facilities on 1800-775050 and ask can they retrieve footage for that time, or guide them to how they might get it.
Depending on the exact location they may not see the impact, but should pick up an image of the bus within a few minutes of it happening where they might get the reg.

Isambard

she will have to sort the car herself or claim on her own insurance.

MIBI afaik will require a registration number of the offending vehicle that left the scene. they won't pay out for an instance where there is an unidentified vehicle involved (for obvious reasons.)

Why you're all arguing about what lane she was in beggars belief.

The chan chan man

Aren’t there cameras all over the m50?

Samuel T. Cogley

GDPR aside and there is a discussion on it in Legal Discussion with regards to dashcams. I highly recommend getting one. To many people leg it after accidents. Glad she's okay.