Bus crashes after driver blacks out (From This Is Local London)

Bus crashes after driver blacks out

A bus careered out of control on to tram tracks after its driver blacked out shortly before 11pm on Wednesday.

The driver was returning to the depot when his Mitcham Belle bus went out of control and ended up going over a crossing and smashing into traffic lights at Beddington Lane tramstop, Mitcham.

He told the News: "I was feeling unwell and then I just blacked out for a few seconds and went over the tramline.

"I didn't know what had happened. I was shaking like a leaf and I was given oxygen."

The wheels of the bus slipped into the tram track grooves as the vehicle headed towards traffic signals.

The driver was taken by ambulance to the Mayday Hospital, Croydon where he was treated for minor injuries and discharged at 4.30am yesterday.

"I haven't been able to sleep, I'm still so tense and stressed about it, I could've killed somebody," he added yesterday (Thursday).

Fortunately there were no trams in the area at the time of the incident.

Kevin Wilde, Mitcham Belle managing director said: "We're aware of it, it's in the hands of the police at the moment. Something happened on that crossing, we don't know too much about it ourselves at the moment but as soon as we hear back from the police we shall investigate."

Tramtrack Croydon, which runs the tramline, has launched an investigation into the accident. General manager Roger Harding said: "We're obviously aware of that incident and we're conducting an investigation. In the meantime we have traffic signals that do not work which we have reported to Transport for London."

A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed the bus had gone over the crossing and crashed into an obstacle.

The tram service was disrupted for an hour after the accident while the area was sealed off and the bus was later removed from the track.

This is the second incident involving a Mitcham Belle bus in the last two weeks.

On February 5 a driver collapsed at the wheel and smashed into two other vehicles, leaving a trail of wreckage along a busy Mitcham street.

February 14, 2003 13:00