More than 450 Londoners have been injured by bus rear-view mirrors since 2018, a Telegraph analysis of data reveals, casting doubt on one of Sadiq Khan’s key commitments to road safety.
The number of injuries caused has been rising over the past three years, even as London’s bus fleet shrinks, suggesting the problem is getting worse.
Sadiq Khan wants to ‘eradicate’ deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads as part of his Vision Zero strategy.
Yet the Mayor of London’s own fleet of buses is causing more injuries than ever before, with 2023 a record year for the number of people hit by bus rear-view mirrors.
Last year saw the highest number of injuries in six years, with 106 pedestrians hit, an increase of 70 per cent.
A typical bus rear-view mirror weighs about 2 kg including mounting arms.
The London borough with the most collisions was Lambeth – 11 of the 37 incidents recorded there over a six-year period happened on Friday or Saturday nights.
Route 91, which runs between Crouch End and Trafalgar Square, has seen the most injuries over the years.
Tom Kearney, 59, from Camden, was left in a coma after being hit by a bus rear-view mirror in 2009.
He suffered head and lung injuries from the force of the impact and now believes there is a “conspiracy of silence” surrounding the issue.
“It happened at a busy junction on Oxford Street. The mirror of the bus hit me in the back of the head and threw me against the bus and then down into the street,” he recalled.
Public awareness
Mr Kearney, who is now campaigning for more public awareness of bus exterior mirror injuries, added: “Given the fact that TfL’s own figures show that the number of people killed and injured in bus safety incidents is higher now than in 2008 the current mayor took office. In May 2016, the fact that the number of injured in bus exterior mirror collisions is increasing should not come as a surprise.”
Despite a record number of injuries, London’s bus fleet has shrunk since Mr Khan took office.
Eight years ago there were 9,415 buses, while last year TfL said there were 8,643, a drop of 8 per cent.
“It is surprising,” continued Mr Kearney, “that all these alarming trends persist years after the Mayor and TfL announced a number of ‘world-leading’ bus safety programs and the ‘Vision Zero’ programme.
“Bus safety record worse under Khan”
Andrew Boff, Conservative Speaker of the London Assembly, said bus safety in London was deteriorating under Mr Khan.
“The number of bus fatalities increased by 17 percent in 2022 and again in 2023,” Boff said.
“Whilst we welcome the falling number of bus fatalities, these figures actually show that a significant number of people are still injured by London’s buses each year.
“Despite the Mayor having an 80 page bus safety strategy, he continues to brush off any criticism of the safety of the bus network.”
Tom Cunnington, TfL’s head of bus business development, said the capital’s transport authority was ordering bus companies to replace traditional rear-view mirrors with cameras.
“There has been an increase in injuries over the last three years as Londoners’ travel has returned to pre-pandemic patterns,” he claimed.
“We are working to replace the rear-view mirrors on our buses with camera monitoring systems to eradicate the risk of mirror collisions, with 1,500 buses now equipped with them.
“All new buses in our fleet are equipped with cameras instead of mirrors and we are also working on retrofitting existing buses with these systems.”
Mr. Khan, through his official mayor’s office, did not respond to a request for comment.