A technical expert has told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the bus involved in the accident at Wellington Quay in which five people died three years ago had generated more power than it was intended to for almost half of its operating life.
Dr Denis Woods was giving evidence about the possibility that the Dublin Bus vehicle, driven by 51-year-old Kenneth Henvey, experienced an unintended sudden power surge.
Mr Henvey has pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing the deaths of five people.
Earlier, a Bus Éireann bus driver told the court that he experienced a power surge on a bus he was driving in 2004.
Martin O'Callaghan was the first witness for the defence.
He told the court he was driving a single decker Volvo bus in Waterford in May 2004.
He said he was pulled in at a bus stop in Tramore letting passengers out when the bus suddenly got a power surge.
There was a large roar he said and the rev counter shot into the red. He said he put the bus into neutral and there was an even larger roar. He said it was a frightening sound.
He immediately told his passengers to get off the bus and told his inspector he would not drive it again.
A second bus driver based in Waterford also gave evidence. Mark Fitzgerald said he had been on the same bus while it was idling in the garage.
He said the revs on the bus shot up and there was an unnatural roar he had never heard before.
