Car and bus wrecked in inferno at Longstanton

Shortly after this morning's (20 May) rush hour, a car and a bus were involved in a collision where the Busway crosses the B1050 at Longstanton. The car caught fire, and shortly afterwards that fire spread to the bus. Both vehicles were gutted in the resulting inferno.

The bus was a Stagecoach single decker on an outbound service. All the passengers were evacuated before the bus caught fire, but the driver was injured during the incident.

The bus came to rest on the bridleway to the north of the crossing, with the car seemingly almost alongside it on its offside.

There have been a number of sets of photographs and a couple of reports compiled during the course of the day, although none that I have seen yet attempt to explain what happened. Here are some links to Cambridgeshire Live, Cambridge Independent and BBC reports and photo galleries:

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/live-updates-longstanton-bus-fire-16300218
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/longstanton-guided-busway-fire-stagecoach-16301288
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/pictures-show-busway-fire-longstanton-16300739
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/bus-engulfed-by-flames-16301347
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/fire-after-bus-and-car-crash-on-guided-busway-9070720/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-48336219

Child cyclist injured in collision with bus

A child cyclist was injured in a collision on the Busway last Wednesday (1 May). The incident happened as the child crossed the busway adjacent to Kings Hedges Road.

Stagecoach report that their assessment of the onboard CCTV shows the cyclist pulling out "without looking".

The child's father feels that the positioning of pedestrian lights is confusing, in that they cover the road itself, but not the Busway. He is also calling for "change all along the busway" to prevent similar incidents in the future.

There are three reports on Cambridgeshire Live relevant to this item:

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/live-updates-guidedbusway-kingshedges-cyclist-16210973

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/busway-hit-girl-cyclist-kings-16212678

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/stagecoach-guided-busway-cyclist-hit-16214926

Cyclist death "accidental"

The inquest into the death on the Busway of cyclist Steve Moir has concluded that his death was "accidental". As reported in a post at the time Mr Moir died in a head-on collision with a bus on the section of the Busway near to Long Road on 13 September. According to media reports from the inquest, which finished yesterday (3 May), he clipped the kerb whilst overtaking pedestrians, and fell onto the Busway in front of an oncoming bus. The bus was travelling within the speed limit (which has since been reduced) and the driver was found to have acted "appropriately" when he saw what was unfolding.

There have been calls from Mr Moir's family either for greater separation of the busway from the parallel bridleway (used extensively in this area by both cyclists and pedestrians).or for separation of those cyclists and pedestrians from each other.

The Health and Safety Executive is still investigating the incident.

More information is available on the BBC Cambridgeshire and Cambridgeshire Live websites.