The Health and Safety Executive found TfL failed to properly manage risks to pedestrians at Walthamstow Bus Station, despite an earlier collision and a series of near misses.
Transport for London has been fined £2 million after pleading guilty to safety failings at Walthamstow Bus Station, where a 74-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a bus.
Grace Mecaley was walking home from shopping on Walthamstow High Street when she was hit by a route 212 double-decker at an authorised pedestrian crossing on 15 December 2023.
She was around two-thirds of the way across the road from Rose Bank Villas when the bus rounded a corner and struck her at about 5pm.
Mrs Mecaley suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found TfL had failed to ensure pedestrians and vehicles could move safely around the bus station.
The crossing was positioned at the apex of a bend used by buses entering the station. The HSE said its location and the angle at which buses approached meant drivers could turn towards pedestrians without having a clear view of the full crossing.
The red-surfaced crossing was intended to give pedestrians priority, but the HSE said its layout created ambiguity over right of way.
HSE guidance says pedestrian and vehicle routes should be clearly marked, with sharp or blind bends avoided where possible.
Investigators found the risks had persisted for years.
A pedestrian had previously been struck by a bus in similar circumstances in April 2022, but the HSE said TfL did not subsequently carry out a risk assessment of the crossing.
CCTV also recorded five near misses in the two days before Mrs Mecaley was killed.
The HSE also found TfL had failed to adequately monitor bus drivers operating at the station.
TfL pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
It was fined £2 million and ordered to pay £5,081 in costs at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 25 September.
HSE inspector Laurence Goodacre said Mrs Mecaley had been “simply walking home after shopping” when she was killed while using an authorised crossing.
He added: “TfL had a responsibility to keep pedestrians safe, but its failings meant Grace never made it home.”
TfL said it had accepted responsibility for the charges and had since carried out permanent safety works at Walthamstow Bus Station.
Lorna Murphy, TfL’s director of buses, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Grace Mecaley.
“Every death on the transport network is devastating, and we’re determined to end the trauma caused by loss of life and injury.”
TfL said the works, completed in December 2024, included measures intended to permanently improve pedestrian safety at the station. The transport authority said it was also increasing monitoring and working with bus operators to improve compliance with station safety rules.
Ms Murphy added: “As the operator of the bus station, we have accepted responsibility for the charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive.
“We will be considering our next steps in relation to the level of the fine imposed by the court.
The sentencing comes just days after another pedestrian was taken to a major trauma centre following a separate collision involving a bus at Walthamstow Bus Station.
A man was injured in a collision involving a route 275 bus, operated by Stagecoach, on Tuesday, 22 September.
TfL said it was urgently investigating the incident alongside the operator and police.
London Bus Forums News visited the bus station following the collision and photographed the separate pedestrian crossing where the route 275 incident took place.
Photographs taken at the scene show the “LOOK RIGHT” road markings at the crossing were visibly faded.
Image: London Bus Forums
There is currently no evidence that the condition of the markings contributed to the collision, and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
