Ever had an accident on a bus?

[Eyersey468]

Worst one I had was in 2010 near Bainton in East Yorkshire, a car had slowed down to turn right into a farm track, I slowed down but the VW Passat behind was so close he hit the back of the bus before he even had time to brake. Including loss of earnings due to the bus being off the road nearly a month due to the amount of damage he caused and recovery the crash cost his insurance company over £10k, and that was just our claim against him

 

[aliceh]

I've only been in one relatively minor one. Would have been around 1999-2000 in Southampton, we were approaching the traffic lights at Shirley precinct when a driver in a parked car opened the door straight into our path. We must only have been doing about 15mph at that point, but it was enough to give us a sharp jolt, smash the bus windscreen and take the door clean off the car. Nobody was hurt thankfully and we just boarded the next bus towards town.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Not had a serious accident while a bus passenger but many years ago in the mid-1980s, I took a long-distance coach from Mexico city to the far south of the country, departing mid-afternoon. Can't remember the name of the operator but it was a large, nationwide concern. On the morning after our departure we found ourselves stuck in a queue of traffic on a road on the side of a mountain. Gradually we inched forwards, and it became apparent what had caused the queue. A recovery truck was dragging a coach belonging to the same operator from where it had landed up at the bottom of the mountain, its roof completedly flattened. 'Trece meurtos' (13 dead) a bystander told our driver, who was understandably very upset. It's possible that it was the coach on the departure previous to ours.

 

[Busaholic]

I'm pretty certain it was not a Cravens - if I noticed a different platform area, I'm sure I would have noticed 5 windows instead of 4 ! The Cravens had all gone by the time I became properly interested in buses in 1959, just missing our local Bexleyheath trolleybuses. I did ride on a Cravens in 1964 staying with an aunt and uncle in Whitchurch and catching Red Rover RT1519 into Aylesbury.

I've a complete record of pre-war RT allocations to garages including unlicenced periods, etc, but 'unofficial' loans are not included. There's no mention of a Plumstead allocation as a service bus, so it must have been a loan. At the time you mention, the 122A was Plumstead's least important route in terms of frequency and buses allocated, so it would make sense to place such a loan on this working, though it would only have 'scratch' blinds at best.

 

[Morris Dancer]

Not quite an accident as such but many years ago travelling home to Bushey on a 258 we were coming into Harrow Weald when the driver suddenly did an emergency stop. Everybody was immediately thrown forwards with standing passengers flung to the floor. I smacked my head on the window and a small child hit their head on the seat in front and started crying.
When I looked ahead to see what had happened I saw nothing and the driver had continued.
Intrigued, I went to ask the driver what had happened. His answer made my jaw drop. It seemed somebody had pressed the bell twice and had irked him somewhat!
I must admit I lost my temper and called him a madman and he threw me off.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'd have reported that.

 

[Morris Dancer]

I'd have reported that.

Oh I did. He actually threatened to call the police which obviously with hindsight I should have let him but I was quite happy to be off the bus.
The reply from the company was that they expect high standards from their drivers and would be investigating....

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh I did. He actually threatened to call the police which obviously with hindsight I should have let him but I was quite happy to be off the bus.
The reply from the company was that they expect high standards from their drivers and would be investigating....

TfL might themselves have been more interested.

 

[elbows47]

I've a complete record of pre-war RT allocations to garages including unlicenced periods, etc, but 'unofficial' loans are not included. There's no mention of a Plumstead allocation as a service bus, so it must have been a loan. At the time you mention, the 122A was Plumstead's least important route in terms of frequency and buses allocated, so it would make sense to place such a loan on this working, though it would only have 'scratch' blinds at best.

I too have such records and I reckon it must have been a New Cross bus on loan, or very remotely possibly Nunhead. I lived on the 122A route from 1953 to after it became the B12. I have no record of any Cravens in the Southeast area.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Not so much an accident per se.

I was travelling on an X36 home from Glasgow and a lady and her husband got on at Braehead. The lady had slightly reduced mobility... and they sat upstairs.

The bus reached her stop and as she was going down the stairs, the driver stopped the bus and the lady went flying down the stairs. There was an almighty bang followed by a scream.

It was one stop before mine, so I didn’t hang about to see the aftermath. It was quite a fall though as she was about halfway down the stairs.

 

[delt1c]

Worked for LT from 1978 till 1990 and had a few accidents , mostly minor scrapes . However the worst was in August 1978 when a Belgian gentleman stepped out in front of us in the Piccadilly bus lane looking left instead of right. It was a fatal and can remember it like it was yesterday. the memory never leaves you nor does it fade.

 

[Geordie driver]

Another one that's come back to me, although not an accident. Fine spring evening about this time of year and a guy comes to me and says there's an old guy back there not looking too good.

Went back and he appeared to be dead. I vaguely knew him as he never carried his pensioners pass and used to try and pay, I would let him on for nowt.

I drove to the nearest pay phone and I rang 999, a young lass got off and went into a nearby doctors which she reckoned would still be open ( it wasn't), 2 young lads on the bus started CPR.

I evacuated the bus, mostly through the rear emergency exit ( Leyland National IIRC), then the ambulance showed up. I thanked the young lads for doing CPR and waited with the old guys wife while the ambulance guys did their stuff. I took his wife directly to Newcastle RVI, rang the depot to tell them to collect the bus, and sat with his wife for an hour until her family turned up, they were very grateful. Her name was Rose, strange the little things you remember.

I suggested to management that flowers to be lady and some kind of reward for the CPR lads wou!d be nice, don't think that happened.

 

[route101]

Not so much an accident per se.

I was travelling on an X36 home from Glasgow and a lady and her husband got on at Braehead. The lady had slightly reduced mobility... and they sat upstairs.

The bus reached her stop and as she was going down the stairs, the driver stopped the bus and the lady went flying down the stairs. There was an almighty bang followed by a scream.

It was one stop before mine, so I didn’t hang about to see the aftermath. It was quite a fall though as she was about halfway down the stairs.

It happened to me on a first Glasgow bus. I fell right down the stairs but luckily I wasn't injured.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Not so much an accident per se.

I was travelling on an X36 home from Glasgow and a lady and her husband got on at Braehead. The lady had slightly reduced mobility... and they sat upstairs.

The bus reached her stop and as she was going down the stairs, the driver stopped the bus and the lady went flying down the stairs. There was an almighty bang followed by a scream.

It was one stop before mine, so I didn’t hang about to see the aftermath. It was quite a fall though as she was about halfway down the stairs.

Similarly, a few years ago on a bus in Basingstoke, I witnessed an older woman and (presumably) her grandson board, and go to sit at the raised area at the back of the bus. As the woman was walking up the steps to reach the raised area, the driver pulled away and she went flying sideways and crashed onto the floor. Was really quite alarming to see, but very thankfully she got back up and appeared to be fine (if a little shaken).

 

[awsnews]

First incident I can recall was being on a Swindon & District VR which reversed into another bus parked behind it in Swindon Bus Station, quite a bit of shouting from those at the back who heard the crunch but the driver just carried on anyway. Looking at the back of the bus after alighting there wansn't much left of the nearside rear lights.
A few other close calls, one incident where the driver clipped the kerd on a particuarly tight corner which resulted in a bit of weaving across both sides of the road for a few moments, fortunately nothing coming in the other direction. Another where I just missed being hit by a wing mirror which had just been knocked of a bus picking up in Chalmers Street in Clydebank after another driver misjudged the available space when trying to park in front, an instance of being on the bus when a brick came through the window and a couple of scrapes as buses have tred to squeee pass each other on Barnes Street in Clydebank. Anyone who has reguarly travelled along Barnes Street will have experienced at least one near miss through the various traffic calming measures (there is an irony in there somewhere), on two occassions an oncoming driver has decided the best course of action was to 'park' on the built up blockwork at one of the junctions.
There has been anoter two incidents which I have witnessed where the outcome could have been fatal, in one instance an individual walked right in front of a moving Atlantean in George Square in Glasgow, despite the loudness of the impact the individual having bounced a couple of metres down the road, dusted themselves off and after yelling some abuse at the driver walked off. The other was back it in Clydebank when an individual on a mobility scooter toppled into the road when trying to squeeze past a busy bus stop just as a bus went to pull away, the driver managed to stop the bus with about a metre to spare.

 

[stuart100100]

I've been a passenger when the bus I was on rear ended a car when the traffic lights turned green and the car in front didn't immediately move off.

Another time, going around the many roundabouts of Skelmersdale, a young girl in one of the side seats fell out of the seat and into the aisle. The bus driver asked for my details as a witness, a couple of weeks later I received a questionnaire in the post from the bus company's solicitors asking to describe events from what I saw. I heard no more after sending it back.

 

[Busaholic]

I too have such records and I reckon it must have been a New Cross bus on loan, or very remotely possibly Nunhead. I lived on the 122A route from 1953 to after it became the B12. I have no record of any Cravens in the Southeast area.

I don't have all the details of Craven bodied garage allocations but I can recollect getting on an RT at the Eltham Church stop near to my grandmother's flat and immediately noticing the difference in appearance and details of the layout, and getting quite excited about it. As the only interlopers from outside SE London we had in Eltham were the Blackwall Tunnel RTLs, it must have come from a nearby garage but, once again, it doesn't preclude a loan.

 

[Roger1973]

I too have such records and I reckon it must have been a New Cross bus on loan, or very remotely possibly Nunhead. I lived on the 122A route from 1953 to after it became the B12. I have no record of any Cravens in the Southeast area.

Just one other thought - depending on when it was, could it have been a Sunday working on the 53 rather than a 122A? The 53 replaced the 122A on Sundays from 1956, although initially from Old Kent Road rather than New Cross (until after the 'pre war' RTs had been withdrawn from passenger service) - I'm not sure if Old Kent Road was in the same engineering group as New Cross (being closest geographically didn't necessarily translate in to groupings that worked on whatever basis it was done on) - although again seems unlikely that a loaned non-standard bus would have been used on a Sunday.

I don't have all the details of Craven bodied garage allocations but I can recollect getting on an RT at the Eltham Church stop near to my grandmother's flat and immediately noticing the difference in appearance and details of the layout, and getting quite excited about it. As the only interlopers from outside SE London we had in Eltham were the Blackwall Tunnel RTLs, it must have come from a nearby garage but, once again, it doesn't preclude a loan.

The detail on Ian's Bus Stop website (which the site owner makes clear is not 100% complete) shows Cravens RTs allocated at Old Kent Road, New Cross and Catford garages (all of which had routes that ran to / through Eltham), but not Sidcup, Abbey Wood, Plumstead or Bromley (and they had been withdrawn from service before Bexleyheath got buses) - would have thought it would have made more sense to concentrate them at one or two garages like the country area did, as almost everything other than the light bulbs must have been non-standard.

 

[Busaholic]

Just one other thought - depending on when it was, could it have been a Sunday working on the 53 rather than a 122A? The 53 replaced the 122A on Sundays from 1956, although initially from Old Kent Road rather than New Cross (until after the 'pre war' RTs had been withdrawn from passenger service) - I'm not sure if Old Kent Road was in the same engineering group as New Cross (being closest geographically didn't necessarily translate in to groupings that worked on whatever basis it was done on) - although again seems unlikely that a loaned non-standard bus would have been used on a Sunday.



The detail on Ian's Bus Stop website (which the site owner makes clear is not 100% complete) shows Cravens RTs allocated at Old Kent Road, New Cross and Catford garages (all of which had routes that ran to / through Eltham), but not Sidcup, Abbey Wood, Plumstead or Bromley (and they had been withdrawn from service before Bexleyheath got buses) - would have thought it would have made more sense to concentrate them at one or two garages like the country area did, as almost everything other than the light bulbs must have been non-standard.

I think the bus I got on was on the 182 route, which was normally operated by the pre-war RTs from New Cross. I don't believe the 21 out of Old Kent Road had journeys from the north to Well Hall Station until after the 182 had been withdrawn: Southend Crescent was always the terminus. Maybe, getting back to the 122A, it was a loan from New Cross to Plumstead of a Cravens bus - personally, I consider this more likely than a pre-war RT, because blinds would not have been an issue.

 

[WelshBluebird]

When I was still in Bath I was on a number 5 heading into the city centre and we hit a car who had pulled out right infront of us from a side street without looking. Luckily it was low speed due to traffic but still made me pretty jumpy for a good few hours after. Not actually sure what ended up happening afterwards as I was heading into town to catch a train so just got off and walked the rest of the way. I did think I should have tried to stick around but decided that if they needed witnesses of the incident then there were enough people on the bus that me sticking around wouldn't make any difference.

Also, on the same route but another time, someone who was paralytic drunk managed to fall / stumble out of the bus at a bus stop after the driver had opened the doors. They were standing several metres back when the bus stopped but managed to stumble a few steps forward as the doors were opening. Funnily enough their partner (who seemed sober) tried to nick my bag as they got off to accompany their now face down in the road other half. Again, I decided not to stick around and firmly grabbed my bag back and got off the bus to walk the rest of the way home. Considering the state of the drunk who as I said was lying in the road by the time I got off the bus, I wouldn't be surprised if the bus was stuck there for some time.

 

[LUYMun]

I was a young child, and this was in the late 2000s/early 2010s on a Plaxton Pointer SLF on route H13 departing Ruislip station when it struck an elderly lady, to which she stood up with a bloody forehead. I believe an ambulance arrived, and we were sat there for longer than expected. Afterwards, the bus finally departed Ruislip onwards to the Lido.

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Was going from Tonbridge to Maidstone about 15 years ago as a passenger and we smashed into a parked van on the A26 at Wateringbury, fortunately no one hurt but a couple of frightend kids

 

[cool110]

Not while I've been on, but once when waiting at the stops in front of Preston railway station I saw the aftermath of someone being hit by one coming the other way up the hill. By that point they were being loaded into an ambulance while the police were talking to the driver.

 

[Class360/1]

I once had an accident on the way to school. Thankfully I want affected by it but there was lots of traffic and the bus and car had a ‘close shave’. Of course that particular bus route used to suffer from severe overcrowding, so lots of people went to a and e with bruises
And another time a random person didn’t know the bus was a private school bus, so the driver closed the doors, but the man rammed himself into the doors, without success, before running into the windscreen- caused havoc with the people on board. I had never witnessed so much chaos in my life before!

 

[Wyrleybart]

13th March 1982, I was living in Wednesbury in the Black country and was heading for Stourbridge Jn to travel on this railtour https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/820313fw.htm
I was on the upper deck of a West Midlands PTE fleetline, above the driver on a freezing cold morning, on the 245 for Stourbridge. We were travelling down a fairly broad road with cars parked either side when I became aware the bus was drifting towards the centre of the road. We were approaching a couple of keep left bollards for a pedestrian crossing but had no way of avoiding them, but I believe the driver touched the brakes whereupon the bus just rotated and the engine pod on the rear wiped out a Hillman Imp parked at the side of the road. Selfishly I got off the bus and legged it down the road to another bus stop because I didn't want to miss the railtour, but I did feel sorry for the driver.

 

[elbows47]

Just one other thought - depending on when it was, could it have been a Sunday working on the 53 rather than a 122A? The 53 replaced the 122A on Sundays from 1956, although initially from Old Kent Road rather than New Cross (until after the 'pre war' RTs had been withdrawn from passenger service) - I'm not sure if Old Kent Road was in the same engineering group as New Cross (being closest geographically didn't necessarily translate in to groupings that worked on whatever basis it was done on) - although again seems unlikely that a loaned non-standard bus would have been used on a Sunday.



The detail on Ian's Bus Stop website (which the site owner makes clear is not 100% complete) shows Cravens RTs allocated at Old Kent Road, New Cross and Catford garages (all of which had routes that ran to / through Eltham), but not Sidcup, Abbey Wood, Plumstead or Bromley (and they had been withdrawn from service before Bexleyheath got buses) - would have thought it would have made more sense to concentrate them at one or two garages like the country area did, as almost everything other than the light bulbs must have been non-standard.

Certainly not a Sunday as my mother and I were going shopping in Woolwich, certainly not on a Sunday in the '50s. Almost certainly a Saturday.

Seeing post #74 has reminded me that I was on a Country area RF when a comfortably built middle-aged lady boarded and walked towards the back. The driver started but almost immediately did an emergency stop - the result was that the lady staggered backwards right to the front and sat down on the floor by the driver's cab. She burst out laughing and called out "Oh, I've wet meself!". She was OK, I'm glad to say.

 

[Busaholic]

Certainly not a Sunday as my mother and I were going shopping in Woolwich, certainly not on a Sunday in the '50s. Almost certainly a Saturday.

Seeing post #74 has reminded me that I was on a Country area RF when a comfortably built middle-aged lady boarded and walked towards the back. The driver started but almost immediately did an emergency stop - the result was that the lady staggered backwards right to the front and sat down on the floor by the driver's cab. She burst out laughing and called out "Oh, I've wet meself!". She was OK, I'm glad to say.

Wouldn't you have noticed the REAR roof box if it had been a pre-war RT? With all the publicity regarding the saving of RT1 (or RT19 if you will, but that's not a topic for here) and attendant publicity photos it's largely forgotten that the rear roof boxes never contained number blinds in the case of the other 150 members of the class, according to all the information I've ever read. Still reckon a Cravens bodied RT much more likely.

 

[elbows47]

Wouldn't you have noticed the REAR roof box if it had been a pre-war RT? With all the publicity regarding the saving of RT1 (or RT19 if you will, but that's not a topic for here) and attendant publicity photos it's largely forgotten that the rear roof boxes never contained number blinds in the case of the other 150 members of the class, according to all the information I've ever read. Still reckon a Cravens bodied RT much more likely.

Didn't look up - too interested in the bent back panel and broken glass on the platform, then mother moved me away to safety. What I did notice was the position of the platform bellpush which was where it was on the pre-war RTs, and not where it is on the standard RT/RTL I was used to travelling on. Riding on the platform of the turnover bus 1036TV (ex-RT106) when it was moved at Stonebridge garage showed me that. If it is in the same place on a Cravens, then you could be right.

 

[contrex]

One elderly lady in particular was thrown off her feet and collected quite a wallop. The bus journey was terminated whilst they summoned an ambulance.

In 1965 aged 13 I was on an LT route 185 in Camberwell, London, which had to make an emergency stop turning right out of Grove Lane into Denmark Hill. The driver must have stood on the brakes of the RTL. A very old lady had got up ready for the next stop, and made her way nearly to the back of the bus. She went flying forward and hit the front bulkhead a terrific smack. The conductor ran to pick her up; she looked pretty groggy and was making feeble groaning sounds. Her glasses were smashed. He got the driver to stay at the next stop, handily right outside Kings College Hospital, while he nipped and fetched a nurse. Then we continued on our way.

 

[John Luxton]

Once had a bus hit the shop which my family owned - in fact there were several mishaps over the years

MPTE_BUSCRASH_01 | i have been searching for this photograph… | Flickr -The caption explains more!

Also a news report from the Liverpool Echo

MPTE_BUSCRASH02 | About a week after photo www.flickr.com/ph… | Flickr

I also recall being a passenger on an MPTE bus around 1978.

A young child ran out of a side road and was hit by the bus. Ambulance was summoned child taken away. Bus inspector arrives in a car speaks to the driver and the bus is on its way..

Could you imagine that happening today the road would be closed for hours whilst "plod" did all sorts of measurements!

John