r/11foot8 • u/Any-Ad-5373 • Jul 22 '25
Similar Bridge Double decker training bus hits bridge today in Manchester, a day after 20 people are injured after a bus loses its roof in another low bridge crash also in Manchester, UK.
20 people injured in the first crash yesterday, 3 are seriously injured and in hospital in a stable condition.
No one was injured in the second crash.
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2025-07-22/second-bus-crash-as-learner-driver-hits-low-bridge
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u/Riptide360 Jul 22 '25
A trillion dollar legacy infrastructure problem.
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u/SonderEber Jul 23 '25
You mean people not paying attention?
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u/Riptide360 Jul 23 '25
You need to idiot proof the system. I drove our SUV into the garage with a Christmas tree strapped on top (yes, stupid thing to do).
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u/Absolutely_Cabbage Jul 23 '25
Idiot proofing is for regular consumers, if you're driving a bus you're a commercial driver and should have the training to know better.
Should every bridge/tunnel across the world be tall enough so the tallest trucks and busses would fit?6
u/SonderEber Jul 23 '25
Or the idiots can pay attention or at least learn from their fuckups, as nothing can be truly idiot proofed. There are these low sitting bridges all over the world, many with signs and even alarms. People still fuck up.
Just gotta let the idiots be idiots, and let them learn a hard lesson.
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u/CapmyCup Jul 26 '25
Yeah, it's not like people need to know anything about the vehicle they are operating, the height for example.
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u/Riptide360 Jul 26 '25
Should be idiot proofed. Trucks should be required to use navigation software that requires the vehicle height be used. Australia uses height detection and water stop signs. https://youtu.be/ImU1mG7QC4I?si=NnB6AaysuIBEKB9d
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u/aitorbk Jul 26 '25
Just using gps could tell that the bus is going towards a bridge that is lower than the bus. And there are many other possible solutions, that work on distracted drivers.
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u/Riptide360 Jul 27 '25
If the rail is used infrequently (ie only a couple of times a day or less) you could convert the rail bridge to a draw bridge and just leave it upright until a train needs to pass.
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u/Large_Score6728 Jul 22 '25
If there are that many low overpasses maybe double decker buses are a bad idea, or maybe they can lower the road surface or raise the bridges
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u/SapphosLemonBarEnvoy Jul 22 '25
They've been relatively fine for years with this infrastructure with double decker busses not hitting them. If anything, the rash of accidents are likely more indicative of problems with training.
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Jul 22 '25
There have been really bad drievr shortages over the last few years, so they are letting anyone drive them, the standards of bus drivers has definitely declined, with many having poor English, no uniform. Poor route knowledge
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u/linmanfu Jul 23 '25
I agree that things are bad, but they have been worse. In 2006, I saw a serious bus accident in Manchester when someone was killed (the incident stuck in my mind because I very nearly missed a train for an interview as a result). The investigation revealed that the bus driver could not possibly have been properly trained, because he didn't speak English and his trainers didn't speak Polish. The bus company (UK North) was closed as a result. In the long run, the creation of the Bee Network should mean that kind of tragedy is much less likely, because bus companies will have to meet higher standards.
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u/SapphosLemonBarEnvoy Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25
Yup. This sounds extremely familiar, it's happened exactly the same in my US West Coast city, many drivers that don't have adequate English skills, inadequate training, difficulty interpreting route directions... the damage to our city's busses has increased tenfold in the last 5 years. I know nothing of London's system, but the situation sounded suspiciously similar, thank you for confirming that.
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u/TheNoodlePoodle Jul 23 '25
Ah yes, nice to see those famous London purple and yellow buses up in Manchester.
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u/linmanfu Jul 23 '25
Over the last 18 months, Greater Manchester moved from a deregulated, privately-run bus model (anyone can run a bus anywhere provided they give notice) to a publicly-controlled but privately-operated system, the Bee Network. Several operators had to shift overnight to routes in different areas of the cities. Thanks to the UK's TUPE rules, many of the affected employees were legally entitled to stay on the same job under the same conditions, so the drivers themselves didn't all change. But nonetheless I'd imagine there's been an unusually high amount of churn and therefore the average level of route knowledge will have fallen temporarily.
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u/Kougar Jul 22 '25
Problem with dipping the road is you have to make a large gradual dip, and then that bowl is going to fill up with water every rainstorm without also putting a very good drain system in place.
Raising bridges is surprisingly expensive, and if it's a railway bridge that comes with an entirely different set of problems.
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u/shophopper Jul 22 '25
“Comprehensive training and the chance to be part of our city’s future.”
I guess the training needs to be even more comprehensive and include how to deal with a giant LOW BRIDGE sign.
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u/mittfh Jul 22 '25
Here in Birmingham, this bridge had a double decker strike in 2017 - it also catches out the odd truck heading to/from the reason the suburb exists.
(Sidenote: evidently the StreetView mast is lower than 2.9m / 9'9" above ground level).
It also suffered a strike from above (!) in WWII.
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u/JakeGrey Jul 22 '25
This one's more on the instructor than it is on the driver, who to their credit did actually stop in time to avoid any real harm apart from FUBARing the local train schedule for the rest of the day. That bridge looks like it could have been there since the age of steam, so it's not like the bus company doesn't have it marked on their maps.
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u/SonderEber Jul 23 '25
Second time I’ve seen one of these training buses on this sub. Sounds like they have a trainee problem.
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u/RicVic Jul 23 '25
Has Dennis changed the height of the buses recently? Or were these ID-10_t's just ignoring basic safety?
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u/Academic_UK Jul 22 '25
“Comprehensive training”??
I don’t think so..!