FOI request detail

exact cause of mercedes citaro g (bendy bus) fires in London

Request ID: FOI-2574-2122
Date published: 09 March 2022

You asked
I am conducting research into the withdrawal of bendy bus vehicles in London. I am hoping you are able to give a list of bendy bus vehicle registrations involved in fire/fatal incidents, as well as the exact location and cause of said incident. I’d like the times evaluate to be from 2003-2011. I am interested in the fatal accidents of motorcyclists, cyclists or pedestrians and the fires of and the number of fires. The vehicle type in question is mercedes’ citaro g bendy buses Thank you

We answered

TfL Ref: FOI-2574-2122
 
Thank you for your request received by us on 10 February 2022 asking for information about Mercedes Benz Citaro buses that were involved in fire and fatal incidents.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

I am hoping you are able to give a list of bendy bus vehicle registrations involved in fire/fatal incidents, as well as the exact location and cause of said incident.

I’d like the times evaluate to be from 2003-2011.

I am interested in the fatal accidents of motorcyclists, cyclists or pedestrians and the fires of and the number of fires. The vehicle type in question is mercedes’ citaro g bendy buses.

The below table lists fatal incidents, involving bendy buses, that we have been able to locate, going back to 2005. We do not have any vehicle information for the accident that happened in 2005.

Where no information have been captured as part of the incident data capture process "Not available" has been inserted.
 
Date Route Reg No Vehicle Incident Location
01/12/2005  Not available Not available   Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian High Road j/w/ Monument Way
18/12/2006 12 BX54UDG Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian Peckham Rye, East Dulwich Road, SE15
01/01/2007 436 BD52LNC Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian Vauxhall Bridge
17/08/2007 25 LX03HEV Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian (alighting passenger) Romford Road, Dyson Road, E15
09/10/2007 N25 Unknown Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian Rabbits Road, Romford Road E12
08/04/2009 25 LX04LCM Mercedes Artic Citaro Fatal collision with pedestrian Vere Street, j/w Oxford Street, W1

The next table contains fire incidents. Our records only go back to 2007 and we do not have the precise location of the incidents and some of the fire cause descriptions.
 
Date Route Reg No Vehicle Incident Comments
29/09/2007 25 LX04KZK Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Fire at N/S of Engine Bay, believed to be caused by a broken fuel pipe.
26/05/2009 OOS LX03HEV Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Fire caused by faulty starter motor.
26/05/2009 25 LX04KZZ Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire  Not available
06/08/2009 O/O/S BD57UYG Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Starter heater circuit fault.
15/11/2009 12 BX54UCV Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Gearbox oil pipe detached and sprayed oil around engine bay. Fire suppression system and driver controlled the fire.
17/06/2010 73 BX04MZD Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Not available 
06/09/2010 73 BX55FVZ Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire  Not available
27/09/2010 18 LK53FBD Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire  Not available
07/02/2011 25 LX04KZT Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Not available
29/06/2011 73 BU05VFF Mercedes Artic Citaro Vehicle Fire Not available

Whilst we believe we have provided all incidents in relation to your request, it’s not possible to know definitively whether the list of fatal investigation reports includes all incidents, as there may have been some where the investigation hadn’t been closed at the time it was compiled, and therefore don’t feature on the list. We would likely need to conduct a manual task of cross referencing this with the incident database to determine whether we captured all relevant incidents.

Unfortunately carrying out this exercise would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, and then locating, retrieving or extracting it from other information, would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described – equivalent to 18 hours work.

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
 
Eva Hextall
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

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