As either a passenger or a driver, have you ever been on a bus involved in an accident?
You wouldn't forget such an event. I saw the aftermath of a similar accident a dozen or so years ago when staying at my sister's place. It was made far worse by the fact that it was witnessed by the girl's mother from the car stuck in traffic that the teenager had just jumped out of. The physically uninjured driver was receiving attention from the London Ambulance Service as well, and we shouldn't discount the impact such occurrences can have on bus drivers, not just train drivers.
Fortunately not, but have been very close. One memory stands out in my mind of being on a school trip on a (very bouncy) Geldards Olympian. We turned right from Spen Lane onto the Ring Road (Leeds) where the road dips at an awkward angle, doing about 25/30 MPH. As soon as we went round and the bus full of kids leaned greatly to one side I grabbed my mate's arm next to me and he shouted 'Get off p##f. Haha.Anyone been on a double decker that's toppled?
No, a Plumstead (AM) RT on route 122A and another AM RT on route 99 ran into the back of us where the two routes joined at Plumstead Corner. Could have been a New Cross pre-war RT on loan to AM.It wasn't a New Cross garage bus then?
Maybe one of the car's occupants was a person with significant local influence, shall we say, and was not best pleased.When driving in London I put in 13 accident reports in 5 years, none of which were my fault these included:-
A passenger injured when I made an emergency stop after a cyclist rode straight out of a side road.
2 occasions when I had stones thrown through windows
2 occasions when my bus was parked in a station and I was not even on it
2 occasions when cars drove into the back of the bus when loading passengers
1 when a car came past me and immediately tried to turn left about a foot in front of me.
1 when a passenger cut his finger on a sharp edge on a sear back
1 when a 3 year old child fell down stairs, (really dont think they should be coming down stairs on a moving bus.
1 serious one when a stolen car hit a bollard in the middle of the road, lost control hit two other cars and then ended up embedded in the front of my bus.
I can't remember what the other 2 were but all theis was over 25 years ago
I was on Sicily once when the bus was involved in a minor accident with a car, police had to be called and every passenger had ID/passports checked, big hoo-ha for little scratch
No, a Plumstead (AM) RT on route 122A and another AM RT on route 99 ran into the back of us where the two routes joined at Plumstead Corner. Could have been a New Cross pre-war RT on loan to AM.
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.Never heard of it happening, but that doesn't prove anything. There was a brief spell when some Abbey Wood buses were outstationed at Plumstead, while AW was being rebuilt in 1952, and a New Cross bus that developed a defect in service towards the east end of one of the Woolwich routes might have ended up staying overnight at Abbey Wood or Plumstead and possibly helping out the following morning - although that would have meant swapping blinds to use it on anything other than one of the routes shared with New Cross so seems unlikely.
Although Plumstead and Abbey Wood were RTL garages until 1955, which is about the same time as the 'pre war' RTs were withdrawn from passenger service, and at that time, I'd have thought that giving a driver at an RTL garage an RT would have been a 'no'.
Plumstead and / or Abbey Wood did have a 'pre war' RT or two allocated after 1955, as Aldenham or Chiswick staff buses, so it's possible that one could have crept in to passenger service on a Saturday - I've never seen any photographs or references to it happening, but again that doesn't prove anything. I think I have seen photos of the Reigate based Chiswick staff bus venturing in to passenger service on a busy day (possibly when a lot of buses were out on extras for something like Derby Day.)
Just a possible thought - could it have been a Cravens bodied rather than pre-war RT? I can't visualise the platform of a Cravens RT, but having travelled on then once or twice at running days, it was striking just how much of them is 'nearly but not quite right' compared to a standard RT.
In answer to the original question, as a passenger -
Aged about 10, our coach back from weekly swimming at Ladywell Baths collided with the back of a lorry at fairly low speed (I was near the back and didn't see the circumstances) - nobody injured.
Some time in the 1990s, I was on a Selkent Mercedes / Wright midi that was at a bus stop and a car ran in to the back of it, not enough to do any damage to either bus or car.
Some other time in the 1990s when I was working for a rural county council's transport department, I was doing a travelling survey on a bus that a car driver tried to overtake as the bus was slowing to turn right. The bus was an ex Bournemouth Fleetline / Alexander, which ended up with a slight scratch. The car was an Austin Metro, and fortunately did not have anyone in the passenger seat, as the nearside ended up quite badly damaged.
I was on Sicily once when the bus was involved in a minor accident with a car, police had to be called and every passenger had ID/passports checked, big hoo-ha for little scratch
I think this was just normal practice in Sicily, none of the locals on the bus seemed surprised.Maybe one of the car's occupants was a person with significant local influence, shall we say, and was not best pleased.
I know not correct these days but there was always a set of white teeth that smiled as you went past.I hadn't included minor mirror bashes in my accident portfolio, going over the High Level bridge to Gateshead and another bus coming the other way could be a bit hairy at times the say the least.