General Chat

Or is it the driver's brains :-0

Lucky no one was on board.

Makes you wonder if bridges are shrinking.

Crikey! Just looked at pictures - the bus is in a similar state to the Winchester one.

Reports of another school bus doing the same at 4.30 yesterday in Bristol luckily no passengers were aboard

Very sad, and frightening for the children involved. I hope they all recover well.

Lizx

He took the whole top deck off.
I do rather wonder why he did't stop when he first impacted.

There is a low railway bridge at Barnham which is within Chichester Rual District, for whom Fred was a turd hearse driver.

They all passed below this bridge from time to time, they were all local men but one of the takers was about an inch too low to pass beneath it. I think you might have been able to do it if you hit the exact spot in the road.

Quite regularly, the fitters needed to go out to Barnham and let the tyres down again to get the tanker out.

Sometimes, as a driver, you go on to auto-pilot

Surprised how far the bus got under the bridge.

The traffic policeman seemed surprised about the route taken.

Just seen the state and position of the bus under the bridge on telly.

From that, I think it's a wonder there weren't many more injuries.

Poor kids.

<3

Either he was taking an unauthorised short cut, or the route planner didn't do their work properly.
It's amazing that no-one was killed:

https://www.hampshirelive.news/news/hampshire-news/gallery/pictures-winchester-crash-sees-16-4502596?fbclid=IwAR2WB9Xh-Sj1gLUVTl01xbUx2-6NakBFdc5i8_kZzAyRbzzoSn58ALMYbSI

Turns out it might have been the drivers first day.

:-D :-D :-D It was close! (the posting) :-D

Grr! Why was your post chosen to go before mine :-|

I though Tawny was Talking about h height of he unfortunate bridge.

So back to the forgetful driver who maybe also couldn’t read a map.

Double decker buses tend to be 14ft give or take a few inches - definitely higher than 12ft - even with deflated tyres! :-D

Maybe his tyres were over inflated.

Looking a the photo's, I see it's a 'Stagecoach' bus - Stagecoach are well known around here for not giving a damn!
When a bus broke down in the middle of the day, it was our route (1 bus an hour) that was cut because 'We only have a double decker free, and it won't get around the estate'.
...Yet most evenings, the last bus (18:15 - when most cars are parked) is a double decker! :-|

One of the children thinks the bus was on the wrong route.
There is/was also a sign on the bridge - it was 12 foot!

The height of a double decker bus according to Mr Owl is 14’9” and he has his class 1 license. Whilst class 1 does not allow him to drive busses he did have to learn the different heights of vehicles. The railway bridge around 800 yards from my house is marked as 14’9” and the busses make it through with only around 2” of clearance.

I thought every bridge below 16’ had to be marked though to allow for HGVs and the driver should know how tall the vehicle is. As you said nameslessone maybe the driver forgot he was driving a double decker.

Three of the children are described as having serious but not life threatening injuries.

A terrible thing to have happen.

This has happened before when the driver forgets they are driving a double decker and not their usual single decker. The bus company has made that decision and should have amended the route.

Just been messaging my children about that.
One lives in Worthing, the other in a village outside Winchester.
Daughter in Worthing was worried.
The bus was going to Henry Beaufort School in Winchester.
Fortunately, (for us) my grandson who has just started secondary school goes to Perins in Alresford.

Obviously a major mess up by the independent bus provider for the school.
The bridge has been there for over 100 years.
There's every chance a double decker was put on so the children could 'distance' on the bus, but the bridge wasn't considered in this equation.
Nevertheless, I'm amazed the driver didn't consider the height of the bridge compared to the bus, as he approached it.

Looking at the buses, all but one of the five buses the school provide, are double deckers - including this route - from September 2020.

Every parent's nightmare.

I have just been reading about a school bus in Winchester that had it’s roof ripped off whilst trying to go under a rail bridge. 16 children injured 3 seriously. I hope all the children pull through.