Motorbike accidents involving buses – claims advice

Far too often we see crashes involving motorcyclist and buses; essentially one of the smallest and one of the largest motor vehicles on the roads. In more recent years, motorcyclists have been permitted to use bus lanes in specific areas because motorcycles in bus lanes reduces congestion, and as they are smaller, they don’t contribute to congestion as much as cars do therefore don’t really affect the reliability of buses

However, being a biker and driving in a bus lane doesn’t come without its risks. It takes one missed indication signal or a bus driver failing to spot a biker to cause a potentially catastrophic collision.

Frequent bus stops

In busy cities like London, a bus may have scheduled frequent stops with sometimes up to 10 stops on one street. This means buses are going to be pulling in and out of lay bys to drop passengers off on a continual basis which can increase the risk of collisions between bikes and buses.

Our advice to bikers is to always be vigilant when it comes to driving in bus lanes as buses are likely to be stopping every couple of minutes, and you have to ensure that you’re aware that they’re going to be doing this.

Bus driver liability

It is not just a biker’s responsibility to ensure that they are safe on the road of course: it’s the responsibility of all of the vehicles on the road. Bikers are often the most vulnerable road users along with cyclists, so car and bus drivers need to be well aware of this.

Bus drivers will know that they’re sharing their lanes with bikers, therefore they need to accept liability if they fail to see a motorcycle on the road and cause an accident.

Failing to spot a biker is no excuse

A bus has a higher number of blind spots in comparison to a car so drivers need to ensure that when they are pulling in or out of a lay by that they check their blind spots. Failing to do this could result in a fatal crash.

Ultimately if the driver doesn’t check for bikers and pulls out in to a collision, the bus driver should be liable.

Motorbike injury lawyers

Bus and motorcycle collisions can be fatal and they can involve the passengers too and not just the drivers. They can be tragically catastrophic. If you have been involved in a road traffic accident with a bus, you could be eligible for compensation. Get in touch with one of our specialist bike injury lawyers today to start your claim.

Image Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arriva_London_buses_VLA157_(LJ55_BSU)_%26_RM54_(LDS_279A),_Whitehall,_route_159,_9_December_2005.jpg