TfL Ref: 1995-1920
 
Thank you for your email received by us on 2 October 2019 asking for information about bus drivers and ‘pedal confusion’.
 
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. You asked for:
 
information about how many bus drivers have been given charges of Pedal confusion
 
please let me know how many London bus drivers in North and west London garages have had a charge of 'pedal confusion' found against them between 2016 – 2019
 
Unfortunately Transport for London (TfL) does not hold the information you are seeking because any disciplinary action against the driver is undertaken by their employers, the bus operating companies. However, we recognise that reducing the likelihood of pedal confusion will help us reach our ambitious targets of eliminating death and serious injury from the transport network. We researched the issue as part of our new Bus Safety Standard, and have developed a range of solutions which we have started to introduce. New buses entering service in London are now fitted with a warning light on the driver’s dashboard that is activated when the accelerator is being pressed to avoid accidental use such as pedal confusion. New buses are now also fitted with pedal cams as standard so we can collect data to help us better understand how often pedal confusion is occurring.
 
Our Bus Safety Standard requires new buses to have safety technology and enhanced design. As well as dashboard lights and pedal cams, the current generation of the standard also includes intelligent speed assistance, better mirrors with greater visibility and more slip resistant floors. As older vehicles make way to new, these features will become much more common across the fleet. The standard will also be tightened in future as technology develops to include further features that can reduce casualties on our roads.
 
Vehicle technology is only part of the answer to making the bus network as safe as possible; we are also putting all 24,700 drivers in the fleet through a safety training course called Destination Zero. We are around a third of the way through the roll out of this course and this links to one of our Vision Zero objectives of no fatalities either on or by a bus by 2030. This course focuses on road risk with the help of virtual-reality headsets and how best to manage the common driving situations under the circumstances. All drivers are expected to have attended by the end of autumn 2020.
 
If you would like to contact the bus operating companies directly, their website details can be found on our website via the following link: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/who-runs-your-bus?intcmp=44680. Please note that, as private companies, these operators are not legally obliged to respond under the Freedom of Information Act legislation.
 
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London