If you thought that catching a London bus or walking the busy streets of London were relatively safe, think again. That’s because London buses have been seriously injuring and killing people – mainly pedestrians – with alarming frequency and predictability, for decades. And the fact of the matter is – these crashes are largely avoidable. In this episode we share the extraordinary work of Tom Kearney, who has uncovered some horrendous issues with London’s public bus system, described as “institutionally unsafe”.

Podcast introduction

In last week’s episode, we shared the story of Tom Kearney’s coma and near death experience after he was hit, at speed, by a 12 tonne London bendy bus on Oxford Street back in 2009. With a lot of hard work by the NHS, Tom’s family and friends and Tom himself, he made a remarkable full recovery.

But what he did next, and has continued to do over the following nearly 15 years, is equally extraordinary.

As you’ve probably guessed from the excerpts you just heard, Tom has uncovered a huge amount of data, gathered publicly available information from a wide range of sources (including dozens of London Bus Drivers), made hundreds of Freedom of Information requests and has pieced together a a full systemic model of how London buses operate across the city – and more specifically, how they kill and injure people with predictable and increasing frequency  – which, for a contracted public transport operation under the Mayor of London’s complete control—is nothing short of scandalous. 

All the while, he says the Mayor of London (arguably one of the UK’s most powerful politicians) and TfL (Transport for London, the public transport agency responsible for London buses) has dodged questions, obscured information and avoided addressing what is obviously a huge issue resulting in multiple avoidable deaths year-on-year. But why?

This episode is all about Tom’s quest for information, what he has found, and the incredible picture he has pieced together.

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You might recall that we left Tom in his hospital bed, with a feeding tube in his stomach, on his laptop Googling bus crash data for Oxford Street. He soon widened his search to bus crashes, injuries and deaths right across London. And then a few months after he left hospital, he arranged to meet with London Assembly member (and later MP) Victoria Borwick at the site where he was hit by the bus. This is where we pick up the second instalment of Tom’s extraordinary story.