(16/02/2009)

Buses need to "calm down" to prevent injury says city solicitor

Liverpool based personal injury solicitors The Paul Rooney Partnership has written to Merseyside’s bus operators and the Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) calling for a new 20mph speed limit to be imposed on buses travelling in the city centre.
The move follows a spate of collisions either directly or indirectly involving buses and is designed to ultimately save lives and make the streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.
A recent case saw two passengers on a Liverpool bus injured. Both claimants, and other witnesses on board the bus, stated that a clear contributory factor was the erratic way in which the bus was being driven.
Although the bus operator disputed liability, it settled in court on economic grounds and agreed to pay the claimants four figure sums for injuries sustained.
Partner at practice Simon Shaw said: “We do have sympathy for bus drivers who are often under pressure to keep to strict timetables and we know from the cases we have brought that this is often a factor in buses driving too quickly for the road conditions.
“Buses drivers often make slow and frustrating progress through traffic and we feel that when they get an opportunity to put their foot down, they take it. Dale Street in the city centre is a particular problem.
“It is treated like something of a drag strip and buses race on the wide one-way street to get to through the next set of traffic lights.”
Both Dale Street and Victoria Street in the city centre are dominated by vehicles and are included on a wide number of scheduled bus routes. In particular Dale Street has come to the attention of the city’s regeneration chiefs as an important link between the cultural quarter and the waterfront which needs to be improved.
“Buses weigh around ten metric tons without fuel and passengers and when this is travelling at 30 mph, any collision with a person is only going to have one result. From the cases we have seen down the years we believe that a 20mph speed limit imposed on buses driving in built up areas would reduce accidents and would produce a safer city centre.
“We’ve written to these parties to raise the issue and we would be happy to share the experience of our clients with them to demonstrate the impact of the issue. We very much hope that they give our suggestion due consideration.”

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