Bus hits tree
 

Ernst S Blofeld wrote:
Adrian wrote:
The pic shows that the roof pillars have bent, and the main roof
itself is damaged. The bars are just to push smaller branches out
the way - they won't protect against a trunk or solid branch strike.
The driver's meant to do that bit.

There's a better(*) pic here;

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article....&in_page_id=34

The collision with the bus seems to have cut off one of the branches, which
raises the question of why that branch hadn't been removed already by the
highway authority, which is TfL Streets for Tower Bridge Road I think.

The practice of putting up a few little non-standard signs warning of trees
whose upper trunks or major branches encroach over the kerb line on bus
routes has always seemed to me to be inadequate and too casual. If it's a
branch, then cut it off. If the trunk itself is a danger, then either
narrow the carriageway or remove the tree. If the tree-huggers don't like
that, they can plant another tree, further from the kerb. Street trees look
nice and generally should be preserved, but not at the cost of bus
passegers' and pedestrians' lives.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Bus hits tree
 

"Richard J." gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying:

The practice of putting up a few little non-standard signs warning of
trees whose upper trunks or major branches encroach over the kerb line
on bus routes has always seemed to me to be inadequate and too casual.
If it's a branch, then cut it off. If the trunk itself is a danger,
then either narrow the carriageway or remove the tree. If the
tree-huggers don't like that, they can plant another tree, further from
the kerb. Street trees look nice and generally should be preserved, but
not at the cost of bus passegers' and pedestrians' lives.

I wonder how many double-decker buses have passed that tree without
hitting it?

Since I suspect it is rather considerable, I think we can discount the
positioning of the tree itself - unless it moved recently.

Bus hits tree
 

On 20 May, 14:10, Adrian wrote:

I wonder how many double-decker buses have passed that tree without
hitting it?

Judging by the ones on the Kingsway, quite a few *do* hit them. It's
also quite uncomfortable as a passenger watching trees rush by only 6"
or so away.

The best solution for the Kingsway would, IMO, be bus lanes up the
middle and other traffic (with a height restriction, presumably) on
the left. Zebra crossings could be provided to access stops - this
kind of arrangement is very common in Germany, and works very well,
also having the benefit that buses don't bang over grids etc quite as
often.

Neil

Bus hits tree
 

On May 20, 3:12 pm, Neil Williams wrote:
The best solution for the Kingsway would, IMO, be bus lanes up the
middle and other traffic (with a height restriction, presumably) on
the left. Zebra crossings could be provided to access stops - this
kind of arrangement is very common in Germany, and works very well,
also having the benefit that buses don't bang over grids etc quite as
often.

Unless you put the bus stops in the middle of the road the bus will
constantly be swerving across the road to get to and from the bus
lane.

B2003

Bus hits tree
 

Neil Williams gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying:

I wonder how many double-decker buses have passed that tree without
hitting it?

Judging by the ones on the Kingsway, quite a few *do* hit them.

Many people dead or injured?

It's also quite uncomfortable as a passenger watching trees rush by
only 6" or so away.

shrug Don't sit in the very leftmost upper seats, then.

Bus hits tree
 

Adrian wrote:
"Richard J." gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

The practice of putting up a few little non-standard signs warning of
trees whose upper trunks or major branches encroach over the kerb
line on bus routes has always seemed to me to be inadequate and too
casual. If it's a branch, then cut it off. If the trunk itself is a
danger, then either narrow the carriageway or remove the tree. If
the tree-huggers don't like that, they can plant another tree,
further from the kerb. Street trees look nice and generally should
be preserved, but not at the cost of bus passegers' and pedestrians'
lives.

I wonder how many double-decker buses have passed that tree without
hitting it?

Since I suspect it is rather considerable, I think we can discount the
positioning of the tree itself - unless it moved recently.

Trees do move, in the sense that they grow, and sometimes they gradually
lean to one side. During this process the risk of a bus hitting it also
grows, so the fact that lots of buses passed it previously without hitting
it is not a reason to discount the position of the tree as a factor.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Bus hits tree
 

Neil Williams wrote:

The best solution for the Kingsway would, IMO, be bus lanes up the
middle and other traffic (with a height restriction, presumably) on
the left. Zebra crossings could be provided to access stops - this
kind of arrangement is very common in Germany, and works very well,
also having the benefit that buses don't bang over grids etc quite as
often.


Those of us who are old enough remember something quite similar to that
in London - we called them trams. Not in Kingsway, however - they went
underground there! :-)

Peter Beale

Bus hits tree
 

"Richard J." gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying:

I wonder how many double-decker buses have passed that tree without
hitting it?

Since I suspect it is rather considerable, I think we can discount the
positioning of the tree itself - unless it moved recently.

Trees do move, in the sense that they grow, and sometimes they gradually
lean to one side. During this process the risk of a bus hitting it also
grows, so the fact that lots of buses passed it previously without
hitting it is not a reason to discount the position of the tree as a
factor.

How rapidly would it'd have to move in order to do that much damage to a
bus following a previously safe trajectory?

Bus hits tree
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message
, at
04:11:30 on Tue, 20 May 2008, Neill remarked:
1 dead , 4 serious.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7410203.stm

Didn't side swipe bars get installed on all double deckers at the top
left for just this eventuality?

B2003

From the look of it, this one wasn't fitted. You don't see many with
them anyway. It must have been a pretty serious incident for there to
be a death and so many injuries.

As it hit a tree (when buses normally pass by unaffected), and killed a
pedestrian, perhaps the bus had mounted the pavement?
--
Roland Perry
Considering the appalling standard of bus driving in London these days why
doesn't this surprise me in the least. Peter Hendy sure has some explaining
to do.

Kevin

Bus hits tree
 

"Boltar" wrote in message
...

Unless you put the bus stops in the middle of the road the bus will
constantly be swerving across the road to get to and from the bus
lane.

Which part of ...
Zebra crossings could be provided to access stops - this
kind of arrangement is very common in Germany, and works very well.
....did you not understand?
--
Cheers, Steve.
Change jealous to sad to reply.