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Damage to London buses from crashes rising

Harry LowLondon
Last month, two buses collided with one crashing into a theatre

The number of London buses damaged in crashes and collisions is rising, new figures show.

There were 15,390 incidents leading to damage in 2025 and nearly 16,000 in 2024, according to Transport for London (TfL) who released the data following a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request.

In 2019, the earliest year for which comparable data is available, there were just 12,857 such incidents. The number of crashes during the Covid pandemic in 2020 (11,035) and 2021 (12,380) was even lower.

TfL says "it is completely unacceptable that anyone should be killed or seriously injured while travelling, and we remain committed to eradicating death and serious injury from the transport network".

BBC/Harry Low Double decker bus crashed into a roundabout with a large 'Deadpool Wolverine' advert on the side of itBBC/Harry Low
A bus crashed into a roundabout in Highgate in 2024

There were 13,754 damage incidents in 2022 and 14,986 in 2023.

TfL said the data "includes all incidents where damage has been reported, including minor damage to the vehicle" such as paint scuffs, mirrors, and lights but "does not imply which road user's behaviour or error may have led to the incident".

It added that some incidents may also result in injuries and that "traffic volumes were lower during the pandemic (2020 and 2021) as people were instructed to travel only when necessary".

Last year, it was revealed that complaints about London buses being too hot reached their highest level on record.

TfL said: "Our comprehensive and world-leading bus safety programme continuously drives major safety improvements across our network.

"We continue to work closely with all bus operators, manufacturers, trade union representatives and London boroughs to make the network safer, which is delivering major safety improvements across our fleet, our roads and the wider bus network.

"We fund specific interventions to reduce collisions and improve existing safety processes and data collection, including continuing the rollout of a new design to the front end of buses to reduce the impact of a collision with vulnerable road users."

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