Buses repeatedly hitting pedestrians in London

[HollyRoseHill]

I am concerned about the rising number of buses hitting pedestrians in London.

Most recently in March, a 12-year-old dancer crossing the street near her home in south London was killed by a double-decker bus www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12794923; or the early morning October 2010 accident that killed and dragged for over a mile a medical student in Hampstead www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23884561-bus-driver-in-death-crash-case-i-didnt-know-that-id-hit-anyone.do; and this tragic story of a father crossing Oxford Street, during the Christmas shopping season of December 2009, who miraculously survived and is compaigning to bring public awareness to this issue www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/oxford_street_battle_by_dad_who_cheated_death_1_847571.

Is it a vehicle design flaw? Improper driver trainer? Why is CCTV footage disappearing? To whom are the bus companies responsible? How many people must die before a thorough investigation of this alarmingly frequent occurance is undertaken?

how are these 3 incidents 'repeatedly hitting pedestrians.?? they were all different buses and different routes

are you a journalist??

Pedestrians? Bunch of maniacs, oughta be banned.

They should be wearing helmets.
They don't pay roadtax so they aren't important/don't have a right to set a foot on the road.
They aren't insured, so if my vehicle gets damaged, I'll have to pay out.
Why don't they stick to their own designated footpaths?
Usually their fault for crossing against red lights, not obeying the rules of the road.
They should be compelled to pass a road safety test, and need a license like drivers have to get.

Not said seriously, just reckon that's about the level of sympathy you'll get, OP. :(

Yes, of course (I hope!) they were accidents. And there are, of course, many, many, many other examples of pedestrian/bus accidents in London that anyone can easily find, I only chose these three examples.

Two of the examples you quote above say that the pedestrian was hit in the street.

What are you suggesting? Buses with wings? Sorry to sound so flippant, but I'd be on your side if the buses were on the pavement.

You may have the legal right of way when crossing the road, but common sense tells you to watch the fuck out when there's traffic around.

A friend of mine was hit by bus in central London. He was walking on the pavement and the wing mirror of the bus hit him on the back of the head as it drove up from behind him. He was badly concussed. This was an ordinary bus around the Covent Garden area, not a fancy coach or anything.

OP - You say you are "concerned about the rising number of buses hitting pedestrians in London" but you provide no evidence that there is a rising number of buses hitting pedestrians in London.

I'm sure there are problems with some drivers. And there are design issues with road vehicles. By their nature they are dangerous, if they weren't we wouldn't need to license drivers and mandate insurance. But your questions suggest there is some kind of hidden problem with buses in particular while the things you link to provide no basis for that assumption.

I live in London and people are getting increasingly stupid/braisen about crossing the road, they go matching out when ambulances are flying down the road sirens screaming, they go matching out between cars all the time because they can't be arsed waiting for lights to change.

I've seen it a million times, people walking out without looking or looking the wrong way, expecting cars to stop for them and the cars are no better not stopping at crossings speeding up at red lights, it's a free for all out there don't even get me started on cyclists. Another issue is those people don't think, they don't take into account in their minds the fact HGV drivers can't see them as well as car drivers, have a longer stopping distance etc.

I've seen a stupid woman walk out and right into a passing bendy bus because she was looking in a shop window, seen a bus almost run over a child in a traffic jam because the mother walked across right in front of the bus with the child behind who was to low for the driver to see.

Everyone needs to take more care, the green cross code needs to return and Hybred cars need to be banned because you can't hear them coming.

Hybred cars need to be banned because you can't hear them coming

you can see them coming though...if you look...

green cross code was

STOP
LOOK
LISTEN

in that order.

if you can see a car coming, it doesn't matter if you can't hear it

OP, the tragic story you mention of the father who survived being hit by a bus on Oxford Street is actually the tale of someone who didn't look where he was going when he was crossing the road, and is now trying to pin the blame on the bus driver in order to get compensation.

There isn't an epidemic of buses hitting pedestrians in London - yes, there may be bus drivers who drive irresponsibly, but there are far more pedestrians who take risks. I'd be more worried if I were you about the fact that cyclists are far more in danger from lorries in London at the moment, according to this week's Standard.

We all need to take more care on the roads - and I don't think that scapegoating bus drivers is the solution.

So much for the Green Cross Code, I don't think many people tathe road without looking. They can't hear me coming either because they've got headphones in. You'd think they'd take extra care to look in this case but no, they're in a world of their own.

Not sure what happened there, half my sentence disappeared! Meant to say that i don't think may people take notice of it (the green cross code) and cross the road without looking.

Pedestrians are always being killed. Mostly natural selection as their road crossing skills are absent. Sometimes due to them not being as tough as metal.

If the latter, thank/blame the invisible omnipotent forces fools believe in. If the former, be glad that their DNA has been removed from the gene pool.

One fatality in London involving a bus in 2010. ONE.

Man in road..bus coming...man worse off. Perhaps the answer is not to be in the road when there is a bus coming? Long shot, but it just might work.....

I was searching on the Evening Standard website under bus crashes since I recall reading of a bus which crashed into a Tube Station in London last year. So that addresses Alpine Pony. But then I came across this even more tragic story where buses are now trying to kill people not on the street, not on the sidewalk, but , wait for it, in the air. Go get 'em tiger!

www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23928763-double-decker-bus-knocks-man-out-of-cherry-picker---then-runs-him-over.do

Would be hilarious except for so tragic.

So are we now demonising bus drivers because of a handful of accidents in a city of x million?

Wow, I had no idea people were so completely fine with other people dying on the roads.

You are a bunch of loathsome shites, you really are, if you think that a human being killed by a bus is automatically at fault because it happens on the road.

Surely buses are big enough to see if people look for them when crossing the road?
Or are they too busy listening to ipods/talking on their mobiles to cross roads carefully?
Before we demonise all bus drivers (most of whom do a fantastic job) we need to look at the way pedestrians behave on the roads.

From a driver point of view, living in London is bloody hard work. I live next to a pelican crossing, but because it's on a road that cuts though a pedestrianised street, people completely ignore the red man and carry on walking.

Recently getting DS from nursery (on a different road) a woman pushed her pram out from behind a parked car and marched across the street in front of me, I had to brake hard (no padestrian crossing, just a normal stretch of road). That infuriated me, especially as she gave me a dirty look when I beeped her!

The other day I was at a busy crossing and could hear sirens approaching fast, but people still ran out into the road to cross.

I don't like buses, even as a driver. Some drivers are complete shites, pulling out too fast etc, I completely agree. I've worked in brain injury before and the after effects are awful. But often if a bus was involved it was a tourist who'd looked the wrong way before stepping out.

It seems these days the green cross code is just a mythical idea that was never actually taught to anyone.

spidokly - there are two (or more) 'human beings' involved in a traffic accident - the one driving the bus and the one hit by it - neither will willingly put themselves into such a horrific situation I am sure.

Bus drivers like all professional drivers can get cavalier on the roads I am sure but that doesn't mean they are out to kill people. Pedestrians are also liable to making mistakes/ getting distracted/ drunkenly stumbling into the road etc. . The assumption of guilt on either side is a mistake as only those directly involved or witnessing such an event can make an informed opinion and even then laying blame is mostly going to be subjective. I very much doubt a case can be made for buses being a particular problem

Strangely enough it has been found that by removing barriers between traffic and pedestrians (removing fencing, traffic islands, designated crossings etc. etc.) pedestrians and drivers become more aware of each other and more cautious, traffic moves at a lower speed because they are no longer relying on there being a designated area for pedestrians to be 'kettled' in. This works best in residential/retail areas where traffic speeds should be lower.

I never said anyone was out to kill people.

I said that people who blame pedestrians for getting killed when they are hit by speeding lumps of metal are revolting specimens barely deserving the title of human.

We are all pedestrians first.

When we drive we must be hypervigilant to the dangers we pose to people doing what comes most naturally - WALKING

If you are beeping at pedestrians you are a dick.