Overhanging tree rips roof off bus in Holborn

[Busaholic]

Standards of driving in London have certainly fallen over the years, both with car drivers and professionals. Delivery drivers with pressure on time are a considerable part of the problem and the proliferation of cyclists has made it more difficult for even the most careful driver, especially those that feel the rules don't apply to them. Bus driving standards, though, have declined IMO equally as badly. When London Transport had their own driving school at Chiswick which all red bus drivers had to go through they set a standard higher than the basic PSV test and it was rare to get a bus driver that didn't adhere to the basic tenets. I can honestly only remember a handful of dangerously bad bus driving over probably thousands of bus trips, one which spoilt my last-ever trip on a RTL when the driver drove in the wrong gears all the way from Forest Hill to Willesden and generally drove like a total tw*t shouting at other motorists all the way. Now, bad bus driving is something I'd expect to encounter at least once on a two day trip to London. Whether certain companies' drivers are worse than any others, I don't know. Age isn't that important either - one of the worst was a RM driver on the 9 who was almost as old as me.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Really? On any particular route? Can't I've seen this (with any regularity - not never ever).

You see it a lot on the 134 north out of Camden Town on a weekend. Not so much on day buses though.

That said, I don't think driving standards on London Buses are that bad. You get some who are lead-footed and some who seem to enjoy scattering the hoardes of idiot tourists outside Euston station, but most are generally OK.

 

[tripleseis]

I regularly use the 68 along this stretch and I'm not surprised that this has happened (thankfully not to a bus I'm on). It's not unknown for buses to speed along the stretch trying to beat the traffic lights at Aldwych. In fact there has been several occasions where it feels like the bus just narrowly misses a low tree.

The quality of bus driving has definitely plummeted over the last few years as more and more drivers are under pressure to keep to time (usually down to the poor way transport/traffic is managed in London). With the current pay disparities as well, it feels like bus driving isn't the wonderful job it once was.

 

[Robertj21a]

Really? On any particular route? Can't I've seen this (with any regularity - not never ever).

Quite common on many night routes - departures around TCR were notable a few months back. Otherwise those serving Stratford and Brixton.

 

[RJ]

a still photo cannot give the full story of what happened to a moving vehicle. More likely than not the reason why the bus ended up in the nearside lane was that the driver had to avoid some idiot motorist, pedestrian or cyclist doing something stupid. NOTE the bus didn't have it's roof ripped off on the first tree on the road... suggesting that the driver had to swerve for some reason.

Sorry, I don't buy this. The sign makes it quite clear that entire lane is prohibited to vehicles higher than 8'3", not just the first couple of inches from the kerb. From that picture, it looks highly probable that the driver was driving in the inside lane, without paying due care and attention to the road sign.

If he was fully in the correct lane in the first place, but forced into the inside lane at the last second, I expect it would look very different from the image above.

 

[quarella]

Sorry, I don't buy this. The sign makes it quite clear that entire lane is prohibited to vehicles higher than 8'3", not just the first couple of inches from the kerb. From that picture, it looks highly probable that the driver was driving in the inside lane, without paying due care and attention to the road sign.

If he was fully in the correct lane in the first place, but forced into the inside lane at the last second, I expect it would look very different from the image above.

https://goo.gl/maps/oYVfm

If you follow Kingsway from High Holborn to Aldwych you will find the bus lane runs as far as Sardinia St then restarts at Portugal St. The section where this incident took place is no longer a bus lane however the inside lane is still coloured as one. At the junction with Portugal Street you get a height restriction sign with the bus lane resuming the other side of the junction.

We are in no position to judge the cause of this accident. You may be right but We do not know if the driver was incapacitated for any reason. Whether a mechanical defect has occurred. The actions of other road users. Whether a passenger or passengers caused a distraction on board. A full investigation by the relevant authorites will take place.

One outcome I hope will be recognition that this road is not suitable for trees. THe angle they lean into the road to obtain light shows that before the risk to vehicles is even considered. THey also prevent a clear view of some excellent architecture. Trees have a place, even in cities but the roadside of a busy street is not it.

 

[jon0844]

If they're not protected, I'd certainly opt to cut them down and replant. But perhaps they'd also grow like that for the light. So maybe get rid of those altogether.

Of course that would likely annoy some local group.

 

[Antman]

Really? On any particular route? Can't I've seen this (with any regularity - not never ever).

By no means unusual on night buses in Central London, I've also seen it recently on a 148, at least the driver was going very slowly around Marble Arch.

 

[talltim]

If they're not protected, I'd certainly opt to cut them down and replant. But perhaps they'd also grow like that for the light. So maybe get rid of those altogether.

Of course that would likely annoy some local group.

Just keep them and widen the pavement

 

[Groningen]

And we have another one on Russel Square:

 

[Zoidberg]

And we have another one on Russel Square:

Some detail from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33760418

Four people were taken to hospital after the roof was ripped off a double-decker bus in central London.

London Fire Brigade was called at 13:10 BST to Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, to reports of a tour bus colliding with a tree branch.

The injuries were all reported to be "non-life threatening".

Roads around the site were closed, including Tavistock Square - ...

London Ambulance Service said a further nine people were checked over at the scene, while fire crews had to lower one person down from the top deck of the bus.

London's Air Ambulance also attended the incident.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Was that bus semi-open, as opposed to the fully-open design it now sports? The piece of roof appears shorter than the vehicle...

 

[Zoidberg]

Was that bus semi-open, as opposed to the fully-open design it now sports? The piece of roof appears shorter than the vehicle...

"Partly open-topped" as per

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...s-double-decker-loses-roof-in-tree-smash.html

 

[jon0844]

Now fully open.

 

[Busaholic]

Food for thought - only a matter of yards away from where the no 30 bus was bombed with much more tragic results on 7/7/2005.