Accidents surge as bendy buses take over

Figures for two city centre routes show collisions have increased dramatically since the introduction of bendy vehicles.

There was a 45 per cent rise in accidents involving the No38 Victoria to Clapton between April 2006 and the same month in 2007, the first full year of bendy buses, compared to the previous 12 months when double-deckers were the main vehicle on the route. Accidents rose by 70 from 154 in 2005/06 to 224 in 2006/07.

Another route, the No29 from Wood Green to Trafalgar Square, recorded 58 more accidents when bendy buses were used for their first full year.

Safety campaigners and unions have called for a review into the safety of the bendy bus, which has been championed by Mayor Ken Livingstone.

It comes after 21-year-old Lee Beckwith died after he was dragged for a mile by a bendy bus in east London. The driver was unaware of Mr Beckwith at the back of the 60ft vehicle.

Mr Beckwith's friend Matthew Clark, 22, called for safety warnings on bendy buses. He said: "There's been a lack of response about the situation with bendy buses. I would like to see changes made so his death wasn't in vain." Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson said: "The evidence is that they are twice as dangerous as any other type of bus. Not just to cyclists, but also to pedestrians. The problem is they are just too long."

Britain's main cycling organisation, the Cyclist's Touring Club, and the RMT union which represents 8,000 bus drivers, also support calls for a review of bendy bus safety.

A spokeswoman for Transport for London said the figures did not accurately represent bendy bus safety. She said: "Most collisions on the bus network are not the fault of the driver or of anything to do with the design of the buses. They are due to fairly random things. There can be significant fluctuations in the number of collisions from one year to the next.

"The figures record every type of collision, even if it is not anything to do with the driver or the type of bus, for example if someone has walked into the side of a bus." The spokeswoman added that TfL had no plans for an investigation-into bendy buses. She said: " Concluding that bendy buses are more dangerous than any other type of bus is factually incorrect.

"The only thing these collision statistics actually show is that it is more likely that a bus will be involved in an incident in a busy part of town than in a quiet part of town."