Dad’s fury as double decker bus narrowly avoids crashing into bike and young son

The Dublin Bus double decker came very close to Alan Downey, who was cycling along the road with his child on a kid carrier on Sunday afternoon

A dad riding along with his young son has been left furious after narrowly avoided being mown down by a bus.

Alan Downey was peddling along on Sunday afternoon when the vehicle motored up right beside him.

The double decker came within inches of the dad, whose young child was in a carrier on the bike, Dublin Live reported.

He banged on the side of the motor in a bid to alert the driver to the perilous situation.

Dublin Bus have launched an investigation after footage of the near miss went viral.

Alan urged Fingal County Council to complete the process of installing a protected bus lane on the route, which has been delayed since January.

He said: “I’ve been saying for years that we need proper bike lanes along there. And they are actually in the process of installing them now so this parking problem will be a thing of the past.”

The video clip of the Sunday cycle also shows a number of cars parked on the bike lane.

“Drivers parked in bike lanes say ‘Just go round’. This is what happens when you go round,” said Alan.

The clip which was filmed in the Fingal area has been viewed over 108,000 times with many Twitter users slamming the driver.

One woman tweeted: “I have just watched it again (and again) and only realised you have a small child beside you.”

Alan replied: “He’s loving cycling by himself, I usually stay behind so I can watch him but I go beside him when we need to go around parked cars.”

Former Lord Mayor Hazel Chu also commented: “Alan, I hope you’re ok. I’ll be firing Dublin Bus an email on a few things this week so if you’re ok with it I’ll bring this up too? I hope the little one is OK too.”

Another person said: “I think that is one of the most dangerous things I’ve seen, ever.

“The fact that you were able to stay upright and in control of the bike is amazing, the driver left absolutely zero margin for error.”

A Dublin Bus spokeswoman told Dublin Live they are investigating the incident.

She said: “We examine any incidents or issues of concern raised through our customer experience channels – e.g. social media, email or customer service line.

“All complaints and incidents reported to Dublin Bus are taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly as per the Dublin Bus Customer Charter and internal procedures.”

The spokeswoman added that cyclist safety is of paramount importance to Dublin Bus and has always formed part of their driver training process.

She continued: “Drivers receive comprehensive classroom and on-bus training as part of their initial induction programme with Dublin Bus. This includes a strong focus on vulnerable road users, including cyclists.

“The issue of cyclist safety is also dealt with comprehensively as part of mandatory refresher training for all drivers on a two-yearly basis.

“This training requires that drivers watch a Dublin Bus cyclist safety video which looks at all of the important safety considerations when sharing the road with cyclists, including blind spots, overtaking and pulling into bus stops.

“This video helps create a better understanding of cyclist behaviours in an urban environment and ensures our drivers are better equipped in dealing with various scenarios as they arise.”