Click the photo to see its Flickr page.
A 24 bus crashed into a bridge at 9am this morning on Prince of Wales Road NW5, injuring 6 people and wiping out its own roof.
The bus was on diversion following the Camden Canal Market fire at the weekend. Other buses had been successfully centering themselves and passing unharmed beneath the arched bridge since the fire cut off access to Camden High Street. We wait to hear what on earth the driver was up to.
4 Comments
What? This can happen? I thought it would just get stuck if it went under a too low underpass.
There’s that whole momentum change bit. The entire bus isn’t in contact with the bridge ceiling, just one side of the bus roof. What happens when significant momentum change is imposed on one part of an object while momentum carries the bulk of its mass forward, at speed? Shear stress. Goodbye roof.
Looks like it might be three lanes headed one way in the pic and the driver was in the outermost one where the clearance would be reduced due to the bridge curvature, so presumably the other buses made it through by using one of the other two lanes.
But, that is crazy. A real HOLEE SH*T! moment for those at the front of the upper deck, to be sure.
I took some pictures of a truck when something similar happened: see here.