Duck !

[Canary42]

Surely any bus driver who is paying attention should realise a bridge is not high enough.

I guess a school bus driver could be distracted by noisy/unruly/misbehaving teenagers.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/winchester-school-bus-crash-latest-injuries-bridge-wellhouse-lane-093910255.html

Thank goodness no-one life-threatenly hurt.

[Rosie29]

It seems to happen somewhere or other regularly.

[piggynose]

Maybe it was his 1st day.

[Prudie]

Maybe he has only learnt to drive via Zoom call :-))

[aelmpvw]

the sound of the kids stomping up the bus stairs should have given him a clue . . .

[gingejbee]

I can understand this happening for lots of reasons....new driver, new route, diversion, driver used to single-deckers only etc.
The bridge only needs to be a centimetre too low...how would a driver know just by looking? (Yes, in an ideal world he would know the EXACT height of the vehicle and that of the bridge...).

[Ken4155]

Don't all bridges have a 'height' sign on them?

[Ken4155]

From the link; "Both said it was a new driver unfamiliar with the route."

[ichkeria]

Wouldn’t you see the bridge coming?
And think ...

[barry1010]

All bridges under 16'6 have to have height notices. A standard double decker bus is 14'4 so if it was too tall for the bridge there must have been a warning.

[Prudie]

Unless there had been an unavoidable diversion the bus company should have gone through the route with the new driver, the blame could well sit with them.

[brainiac]

A railway bridge near me (in a rural part of the country) has a sign on it: 14' 6''

- that's not going to mean much to a truck driver from Lithuania or Poland, is it?

[youngmafbog]

Who knows the reason. Pity three kids are seriously hurt though. Not good.

[Mamyalynne]

Nasty situation, it's to be hoped those hurt recover soon.

[barry1010]

brainiac, I've been in a few European HGV tractor units and most have the height sign in both metres and feet and inches prominently displayed.

Data has shown that 15% of bridge strikes occur because the driver didn't understand the sign and councils and bridge owners are encouraged to display the sign in both measurements. If I see a sign not displaying the metric equivalent I speak to the highway department or drop them an email. There is no reason for any bridge not to display both measurements.

[brainiac]

Yes, that's my point - there is nothing in metric, though a few other bridges in the area do have the height in both imperial and metric.

[barry1010]

Contact your council, brainiac If they are not responsible for the bridge they may tell you who is

[Peter Pedant]

we werent going the usual way
but no one noticed .....

testimony of teenager

The Beeb hack said - "well the bridge isnt wide enough"
so the whole county seem to be affected by galloping gornlessness

[Peter Pedant]

// I've been in a few European HGV tractor units//
it was a school bus on a school run

[andy-hughes]

We have a low bridge in our city that had a huge warning sign "Warning Low Bridge" and for obvious reasons, the road was not on any bus routes.

Nevertheless, buses regularly got stuck under it as drivers took wrong turns and simply failed to see the sign.

As advised, it's not that uncommon.

[Cloverjo]

Why was the driver sent on that route while driving a double decker. Surely a manager is at fault here.