Whose idea was it to let PHVs into bus lanes?
Cornwall student’s lucky escape after Uber collision with double decker bushttps://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornw ... er-2885787Former Truro College student Dane Shiels was saved by his guitar case
Image: Cornwall Live/Kelly BrillA former Truro and Penwith College student has spoken of his lucky escape after the Uber he was travelling in was involved in a collision with a double decker bus.
Dane Shiels, from Cornwall, and two fellow music students the BIMM Bristol institute were returning from band practice when their Uber ride came to a dramatic and frightening end.
They were left “feeling beaten up” and were lucky to not be seriously hurt when the side of the vehicle they were travelling in was struck by the front corner of a bus on the bus lane of the M32 in Bristol.
A police investigation is under way into what happened, but the passengers in the Uber said the driver pulled onto the bus lane into the path of the double decker First Bus.
Image: Cornwall Live/Lucy GibbsThe private hire vehicle was spun around by that collision, struck another car in the second lane of the motorway, and knocked back into the path of the bus to be struck for a second time by the 12-tonne bus.
Dane spoke of their ordeal and said that, after everything they had been through, they were even overcharged by Uber for the ride, even though they were left shocked and injured.
The crash happened on the southbound side of the M32 at around 2pm on Saturday afternoon.
It caused huge tailbacks on the city centre-bound side of the motorway, with traffic filtering past.
Passengers on board the bus, as well as the two drivers and the three students were shocked but largely unhurt in the crash.
Image: Bristol Post/Lucy GibbsDane, Lucy Gibbs and Eddie Peers said they were lucky to walk away from the collision.
Dane was in the back seat behind the driver, at the rear passenger door that took the full force of the impact from the bus.
Image: Cornwall Live/Lucy Gibbs“I was looking down, looking out of the window and I remember looking out because I was thinking ‘what’s he doing going into the bus lane?’, but I’ve since been told they are allowed to do this,” he said.
“The car began to move across and we were going at a decent speed anyway, so I didn’t understand why he needed to do that.
“Then the bus hit the door and immediately I was thrown to the side by the force of it. All the glass in all the windows and windscreens shattered instantly and I was covered in glass,” he added.
“We all feel beat up, but thankfully we’re ok. When we saw the bus - we had to get on the bus to give our statements to the police - we realised it must’ve been bad for the passengers too. They would’ve had quite a jolt, hopefully none of them are badly hurt,” he added.
Image: Cornwall Live/Lucy GibbsLucy said she believed Dane was saved from serious injury because his guitar was in its case between him and the door that took the impact of the crash. The guitar, remarkably, was undamaged.
The final insult was that they’d not only been charged for the Uber ride, but overcharged.
“It was due to cost £6, but obviously we didn’t make it. The driver cancelled the ride, but by the time he did, the cost was more than £10. If I’d have cancelled it, it would have been £4.50, but I don’t think we should pay anything. I want a refund.”
Image: Bristol Post/Lucy GibbsPolice are investigating the circumstances of the collision.
An Uber spokeswoman said: “We are currently looking into this incident. The safety of riders, drivers who use the Uber app and the general public is a top priority for Uber.”
Image: Bristol Post/Lucy Gibbs
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