21 January, 2010 | Leave a Comment
On Tuesday night I was going home on a double-decker bus from Bloomsbury. The bus was speeding down Kingsway when all of a sudden the driver slammed on the brakes; this was followed by loud, multiple thuds as the bus crashed into something. As often happens in the midst of an accident, time seemed to slow down; even though it all happened relatively quickly, it felt as if it were happening in slow motion and a million thoughts ran through my mind: Is the bus going to flip over? Are we plowing into a bunch of cars? Have we run off the road? I was facing the back of the bus, so I had no idea what was happening.
Once the bus came to a halt, it was clear that we had hit a pedestrian. People were screaming. In all the confusion, the bus driver opened the doors, the guy we hit stumbled onto the bus, then collapsed and lost consciousness. People were shouting that an ambulance needed to be called and multiple people called the emergency services. A student nurse was on the bus and was examining the guy where he was at the foot of the stairs, totally motionless. He looked dead. She said he had a pulse and was breathing, but that his eyes were fixed in space. She thought he had a serious spinal injury. She lifted up his shirt and we could see the wounds from where the bus had hit him.
I was really stunned and along with the other passengers, got off the bus and stood on the pavement. All of Kingsway was backed up behind us, since no one could get by. If you’re familiar with Kingsway (near the London School of Economics), then you know it’s not possible for a pedestrian to cross the street; between the northbound and southbound lanes, there are iron gates and a steep drop down into a tunnel. So the guy we hit should not, under any circumstances, have been in the street. This is why cars and buses speed down Kingsway and what makes it so dangerous.
As we stood near the bus, we all thought the guy was on the verge of death (or possibly already dead). About 5 to 10 minutes later the paramedics arrived. As they stepped onto the bus, something completely bizarre happened. The victim leapt to his feet and ran to the back doors of the bus, where he manually opened them (which takes a bit of strength). The crowd gasped in shock. A minute before he seemed dead, now he was on his feet and ripping the doors open. He jumped off the bus and was acting crazed; he ripped off his jacket and threw it in a rubbish bin, then began to run down the street. I cannot tell you how surreal this was. A woman who had been on the sidewalk and witnessed the accident said the bus had slammed into him hard and that it was unbelievable he could even stand up, let alone run. At the end of the block, he collapsed. The police and medics ran to him and as they were examining him, he jumped up and attacked them in an extremely violent way; it took 5 or 6 people to restrain him. He was screaming like a madman; I don’t know what he was saying, but it sounded really scary echoing into the night, especially given that it seemed he had just come back from the dead. He sounded demonic. A police officer walked by and said the guy was “off his tits” on some illegal drug – I can’t remember the name.
It seemed to me and everyone else that this guy had to have suffered major internal injuries when the bus hit him. Even with powerful narcotics in his system, I don’t understand how he could have gotten up, especially because he had lost consciousness before. He probably hurt his chances for survival by running around like that, particularly if he had a spinal injury. I don’t know if he survived or not, or what his fate will be. In London, it’s very difficult to get local news of this kind, so I may never know.
Our bus driver went into shock and had to be wrapped in a blanket. The police didn’t take witness statements or anything, which I thought was odd. As soon as it became clear the guy was a druggie, the mood of the crowd changed somewhat. There was less sympathy; the police and medics were very hardened with him – I’m sure they must deal with people like this everyday and it’s exhausting and a drain on the system. [I'm sure being attacked doesn't help their mood.]
This area of London is extremely dangerous for pedestrians. About three years ago, I stumbled upon the aftermath of a horrific accident at Holborn, where a double-decker bus had lost control, driven up onto the pavement, hit a woman and dragged her under the bus. Of course she died. If you have occasion to travel through this area (Southampton Row/Holborn/Kingsway), be super careful. And if you ride a bike through this area, you’re insane.
This incident left me feeling quite shaken and I ended up walking home afterwards, the sound of the thuds when we hit the guy ringing in my ears. It’s scary to be sitting on a bus reading Henry James one instant, and then the next a person is violently injured and perhaps even killed right in front of you. My sense of safety is still shaken by it and I haven’t been back on a bus yet; when I’m waiting to cross the street and a bus or a big truck races by, I feel my stomach clench. Accidents like this can happen anywhere, but city life just seems to be pretty brutal sometimes. Life and death in the cold, dark streets.
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Horrific event, but you write in such a compelling way that I almost read it as fiction. Interesting the way people’s attitudes change as soon as they know drugs are involved. The person is suddenly dehumanised and their being knocked over becomes an inconvenience to them rather than a tragedy. Urban life I suppose!
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Mariah Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 2:33 pmI am surprised this does not happen more often in London. One takes life into his own hands just trying to cross any street. I love to visit, but the big city atmosphere is just not for me. Hope you have no long lasting effects of this ordeal.
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willia, Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pmCan this be incorporated in you novel? It is a very compelling scene.
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LBinK Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 4:04 pmI used to ride to work in Holborn every day and once you pay attention and ride defensively (watching out for pedestrians as well as autos) it’s fine. Riding a bike in London looks a lot more dangerous than it actually is. Empathy disappears with the realization he probably did something really stupid like run straight into traffic.
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I guess it does read as somewhat literary! The whole thing was truly stranger than fiction. In a book no one would believe it. But it’s filed away in my mind – I’m sure it’ll resurface in my writing at some point. I did email Transport for London today to ask if they can tell me what happened to the guy. If I find out, I’ll let you all know.
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Ken Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 10:12 pmYour account was very compelling, and all too believable. Anglofille, life can be awful random.
My wife and I decided to stay home on New Year’s Eve. We live on a middlingly busy, but bascally quiet street.
We were upstairs, watching “After The Thin Man” on Turner Classic Movies when we heard a loud crash outside. Within minutes police cars and fire apparatus were converging next door to us. A driver had rammed his car into the front of our next door neighbor’s house.
The next morning we found out the guy was drunk, with an overlay of pot. I also took a look at the track’s the drunk’s car made in the snow. (We had had a snowfall that night).
It was obvious that if the drunk had managed to keep control of his auto for about a second and a half, he would have plowed through the front wall of our house.
A real close call! Just our lucky day–and our neighbor’s too. They are usually using that room that time of night, but on New Year’s Eve they were elsewhere. A big mess, but no one was hurt.
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That was a close call. I hope your neighbors sue this guy.
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Ken Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:13 amI don’t think they have to sue. Liability isn’t an issue, and the damages are easy to quantify. I suppose they could claim some negligent infliction of emotional distress (an actual tort) to sweeten the check they’ll get in exchange for signing a release.
