An alarming increase in bus crashes in London over the past four years is revealed today.
There were 28,035 collisions in the capital last year, according to new figures — about 5,000 more than in 2013.
Nearly 14,000 collisions have been recorded in the first six months of this year. Twenty-seven people have been killed in what are described as “collision incidents” from January 2015 to June this year.
This month two double-deckers crashed into the West End’s Central Saint Giles development, designed by Shard-architect Renzo Piano, within the space of eight days.
In August nine passengers suffered minor injuries when a double-decker crashed into a shop on Lavender Hill near Clapham Junction station.
Keith Prince, Tory transport spokesman at the Greater London Authority, revealed the latest statistics and said more must be done to improve bus safety. He highlighted the fact that there were 1,231 injuries last year alone, with 1,257 people taken to hospital over the past four years. He also called on Transport for London to bring forward its 12-year target for zero deaths.
Mr Prince said: “A 12-year target for zero deaths is not nearly ambitious enough particularly when the number of collisions is getting worse. TfL’s efforts appear largely focused on improving emergency braking but technology exists that eliminates blind spots and can be retro-fitted to buses.”
TfL has said it is developing initiatives including the bus safety programme and bus safety innovation fund to reduce collisions and injuries. Further details will be revealed in TfL’s formal response to the London Assembly later this year.
Claire Mann, of Transport for London, said: “We are taking every action possible to reduce the unacceptably high number of people killed or hurt on our streets. This includes introducing better driver training and new technology to limit bus speeds automatically, making road junctions safer and redesigning buses themselves to make them safer for London’s streets.”
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