Transport for London (TfL) has recently published bus safety statistics for the final quarter of 2015 (October to December).
Between October and December 2015, 1,488 people were injured in incidents involving buses, compared with 1,491 in the previous three months (July to September 2015). 87% of the injuries in the period were classified as minor, of which 84% were treated at the scene of the incident and did not require hospital treatment.
The casualty rate on the London bus network remains low at 2.6 injuries per million passenger journeys. Over the same three month period, there were around 600 million journeys on the Capital’s bus network and London buses travelled more than 100 million kilometres in passenger service.
The overall trend for collisions involving a bus or coach where someone has been killed or seriously injured has fallen by 48% over the last decade.
Deputy Mayor for Transport, Isabel Dedring, said: “We’ve seen real progress in bus safety over the last few years as we’ve introduced 20mph zones across the city and trialled a range of cutting-edge technology on our buses.
“Although we have one of the safest bus networks in the world, we need to continue to drive improvements and meet the Mayor’s target of a 50% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the Capital’s roads by 2020.”
Mike Weston, TfL’s Director of Buses, said: “The vast majority of journeys on the bus network are made without incident, however safety is a top priority and we are determined to reduce the number of people who are injured.
“To this end we have recently launched a Bus Safety Programme that seeks to reduce the number of incidents and lessen the impact of them when they do happen. The publication of these statistics shows our continued commitment to transparency and achieving those goals.”
