Dad calls for bus route review after son gets knocked over (From Sutton Guardian)

Dad calls for bus route review after son gets knocked over in Belmont

5:50am Friday 28th September 2012 in News By James Pepper

Finley Cuffe suffered a broken leg

A dad has called for changes to a bus route after his son was left with a broken leg after being hit by a bus outside his home.

Finley Cuffe, 13, suffered a broken leg and cuts and bruises to his face when he was struck yards from his front door on The Linkway, Sutton, on Thursday.

After getting off the S1 bus he was on, the Sutton Grammar School pupil walked behind the single decker and attempted to cross the narrow road but was hit by an S1 bus coming the other way.

Father Chris Cuffe, said: "The bus was coming down the hill and was gathering speed, the driver and Finley didn't stand a chance of getting out of the way. He was a bit silly crossing behind the bus, but thank goodness he is ok."

Eyewitnesses were horrified when they saw the youngster thrown 10 metres down the road after being hit at nearly 20 mph.

Mr Cuffe said: "It was horrendous. My wife got a knock at the door from a policeman and her heart sank. When she went into the road and saw Finley covered in blood she was terrified."

One eyewitness said: "We heard and bang, looked outside and saw the boy in the road. People were getting off the bus and looked horrified."

The youngster was treated in the road for an hour as police closed off the street before an ambulance crew took him to St Georges Hospital, Tooting.

Mr Cuffe, 48, said: "He must have a very hard head as his head smashed the windscreen. There may be complications with his leg, but we will have to wait and see. He is back at home now."

Following the accident, Mr Cuffe wants the route to be looked at. He said: "It is safe to say that there is the potential for passengers to pass behind the bus however ill-advised this may be, so should the bus passing have guidelines to slow to a crawl or even stop?"

A spokesman for Epsom Coaches, who manage the buses, said: "The driver was not speeding nor was there alcohol involved. We are speaking to Transport for London about the route to see if anything needs to be changed."