Buses withdrawn/scrapped following accidents/fatalities

[Wumpty]

Apologies for what may seem like a morbid subject, however......

Which buses have been withdrawn or scrapped following accident, injury or fatalities regardless of vehicle damage. Some are disposed with light and repairable damage as marks if respect. I'm interested to see how a decision would be reached in such cases and any that you know of.

I seem to remember as a youngster one of the early BOK-V Metros at Walsall in the early 80s being scrapped following a collision with a tree in Pelsall on possibly the 346/348, where the driver was injured or fatally wounded on duty.

Your thoughts would be very helpful.

[fleetline6477]

Where buses have needed to be withdrawn following RTAs / fatalities it does seem rather insensitive to go into detail. Can I suggest this thread is restricted to vehicle and date of withdrawal without specifics been given. I am sure Wumpty that you have no desire to appear insensitive but a thread like this can easily turn into that as it develops.

[Westy]

Were all WMPTE open toppers as a result of accident damage or were any specially converted?

Is the only reason for no open toppers these days weather related or something else?

[Stuharris 6360]

Were all WMPTE open toppers as a result of accident damage or were any specially converted?

Is the only reason for no open toppers these days weather related or something else?

Probably money related, having an open top bus sat around all winter not earning money, saying that London seem to get value for money for there open toppers.

[old50niner]

Don't know what the Moderators think, but maybe the only way of answering the original query, would be by Personal Message ,if both parties
were in agreement to that.

[Tony]

Apologies for what may seem like a morbid subject, however......

Which buses have been withdrawn or scrapped following accident, injury or fatalities regardless of vehicle damage. Some are disposed with light and repairable damage as marks if respect. I'm interested to see how a decision would be reached in such cases and any that you know of.

I seem to remember as a youngster one of the early BOK-V Metros at Walsall in the early 80s being scrapped following a collision with a tree in Pelsall on possibly the 346/348, where the driver was injured or fatally wounded on duty.

Your thoughts would be very helpful.

I cannot think of a single vehicle that was scrapped for 'sentimental' reasons. All of the ones that were scrapped after fatalities were badly damaged, so financially written off anyway

[Wumpty]

Where buses have needed to be withdrawn following RTAs / fatalities it does seem rather insensitive to go into detail. Can I suggest this thread is restricted to vehicle and date of withdrawal without specifics been given. I am sure Wumpty that you have no desire to appear insensitive but a thread like this can easily turn into that as it develops.

Absolutely - interest in the vehicle info and the actual decision based on circumstances rather than people's names/details.

[paulb1973]

I think the first post if referring to a fatal accident involving Mk1 Metrobus 2004 (BOK 4V) in February 1990. I suppose you could add Mk2 Metrobus 2655 which was very badly damaged in a collision which, I believe, involved a fatality - I have the date for this as 14th May 2003, a time when similar vehicles were being withdrawn. I'm sure 1371 (N371 WOH) was involved in a particularly nasty incident, colliding with a house (on 15th May 2007, going by this link) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-455047/Bus-careers-house-killing-pedestrian.html

[Wumpty]

I think the first post if referring to a fatal accident involving Mk1 Metrobus 2004 (BOK 4V) in February 1990. I suppose you could add Mk2 Metrobus 2655 which was very badly damaged in a collision which, I believe, involved a fatality - I have the date for this as 14th May 2003, a time when similar vehicles were being withdrawn. I'm sure 1371 (N371 WOH) was involved in a particularly nasty incident, colliding with a house (on 15th May 2007, going by this link) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-455047/Bus-careers-house-killing-pedestrian.html

2004 it was. Cheers Paul. You're all heart ;)

[paulb1973]

A quick addition to this is Mk2 Metrobus 2605 which like 1371 was involved in a collision with a building and a pedestrian fatality, the date as far as I'm aware was 1/11/96 - this bus was subsequently repaired.

[Tony]

A quick addition to this is Mk2 Metrobus 2605 which like 1371 was involved in a collision with a building and a pedestrian fatality, the date as far as I'm aware was 1/11/96 - this bus was subsequently repaired.

Doesn't really qualify under this heading as it was repaired, but to see how bad it was here is a photo of it being repaired -

[Mike K]

Quinton Metrobus 2711 was withdrawn fairly early in its life (1991) when it hit a parked van on its way back to the garage from Woodgate after finishing a duty on the 23.

Going back many years (too long for this forum, so probably doesn't count) Fleetline 3907 SOE907H met a spectacular end also whilst running empty, back to Selly Oak garage. That one must have been going at some speed to cause that amount of damage:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65532931@N05/6531478809/in/pool-1564033@N23

[paulb1973]

A late friend of mine from Birmingham was always fascinated by any West Midlands Buses that had been involved in Accidents / Fatalities etc....  and he would always try to get some photo's of the Vehicle afterwards ?  If it was so badly damaged that it ended up being withdrawn from service, he'd always do his very best to try and get the Number Plate/s from it as well, of which i remember him showing me quite a few in his collection !!!

My forte from 1988 until very recently, was actually collecting Bus Number Plates from all over the UK and i'd managed to collect around about 700 from just West Midlands PTE / Travel buses alone !!!  The above mentioned Metrobus 2004 (BOK 4V) is one of those Plates that i have (the front one !), although it was amongst a batch of Plates that i brought at the time and i had no idea back then, that the Bus had been withdrawn due to it hitting a Tree and causing a fatality ?  My late friend would later on in life try and get me to sell it to him, but i didn't want to let that or any of the other Plates go at the time ???  If only he was still here now, as he could gladly buy any Accident Plates from Me, as i just want to let the bulk of my collection go now and just keep hold of the ones of any importance or interest to me personally ???

Another Plate my friend really really wanted, is the rear Plate that i have off 2029 (BOK 29V), which was the first Metrobus withdrawn from service here in Coventry !  The Driver lost control of it near the terminus in Willenhall, Coventry back in about 1988, when it crashed into a Ford Capri (i think it was ?), then hit a Sign Post before finishing up embedded in the front of a House !!!  It made front page news the following day in the Coventry Evening Telegraph and was also featured in one of the Birmingham newspapers as well !!!  I got to go inside Wheatley Street Garage a few days after the accident and had a look at 2029, which was parked up in Row A.  It's front end understandably was just a complete mess, especially its front N/S, as the front entrance was more than half its width shorter in width (lol) and so if you wanted to try and get inside it that way, you'd have to turn sideways to get in and even then you'd have struggled a bit ??? (Easier just to use the rear O/S emergency door !!!lol).  It's front Number Plate was just a mangled up mess, but a good friend of mine was fortunate enough to be able to get me the rear Number Plate off it, when it was eventually taken over and parked up amongst all the withdrawn Fleetlines inside Birmingham's Selly Oak Garage !!!  Because of this Bus being from Coventry and sadly giving the residents of Willenhall permanent nightmares (lol), there's no way that i'd ever want to let this particular Plate go !!!

I'd be interested to know just out of curriosity, what other West Midlands Buses were involved in any Accidents, whether repaired afterwards or unfortunately withdrawn early ???

I have always wondered how the driver of 2029 made it up to Robin Hood Rd (the bus embedded itself into a house on that road directly opposite the Remembrance Rd junction) as that was away from the [old] terminus area on a very slight incline. Always puzzled me. Mk2 Metro 2662 had already been withdrawn at this point - so I assume 2029 counts as the second withdrawn.

The Mk1 Metrobus fleet remained relatively accident free, there were obviously bumps and scrapes along the way; 2004, 2029 (2098 & 2111 suffered roof damage later on) & 7006 being noted losses. 2010 & 2244 departed just before mass withdrawals began. Mk2's withdrawn quite early; 2662, 2711, 2773, 2919 & 2964 - these escaped the Marshalls refurbishment programme. 2930 & 3027 going to fire damage just prior to large-scale withdrawals. There were other accident victims later, but at this point, sales of TWM Mk2's was well underway.

[barry619]

The GKN Hybrid Power Volvo B9TL demonstrator was originally a First South Yorkshire bus which was withdrawn after a serious accident, and then substantially rebuilt to Gemini 2 specification.