Last Call – Tower Bridge Bus Jump Edition

Mind the gap.

I got this postcard at a souvenir shop. The back reads:

On 30th December 1952, the driver of a bus on route 78, travelling over Tower Bridge in the evening, noticed the road was rising in front of his bus. The bridge was being raised. It was too late to brake as the bus might have slithered over the edge. He put his foot down hard on the accelerator and jumped the gap and ensured his passengers were safe.

Let’s see Robbie Madison stick that landing, huh?

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22 responses to “Last Call – Tower Bridge Bus Jump Edition”

  1. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    So he kept calm and carried on? Good to know then.

  2. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    He's probably long dead, but the driver earns a Hoon Hero award for this.

    1. bernie Avatar
      bernie

      yeah unfortunatly he is long dead. the think the shock of jumping the bridge brought on an illness. he was the father of my mothers matron of honour. he got presented a £10 bravery award for jumping the gap…probably worth about £200 in todays money.

  3. Black Steelies Avatar

    And from then on, all double deckers in all of foggy London town were fitted with melodic 'Dixie' air horns, JUST IN CASE.

  4. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    This is how he came to be known as Keanu Reeves, KBE.

  5. jjd241 Avatar

    At least it wasn't a triple decker or he would never had made it! Here are my latest street finds from Olympia WA.
    [youtube AMcgxNgeQhY&feature=channel_video_title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMcgxNgeQhY&feature=channel_video_title youtube]

  6. jjd241 Avatar

    Drifting put in perspective…
    [youtube KFinp88KaXM&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFinp88KaXM&feature=player_embedded youtube]

  7. SSurfer321 Avatar
    SSurfer321

    And people get all worked up to watch Travis Pastrami jump a little Subaru onto a barge….

    1. bzr Avatar

      If he had jumped it onto the Block Island Ferry, it'd be called a Pastrami and RI.

      1. Black Steelies Avatar

        Holy crap! Been saving that one for awhile?

  8. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar

    And thus AIRBUS was born.

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Ironically, the noise the bus made coming down the ramp was "Boing, Boing, Boing."

      1. austinminiman Avatar
        austinminiman

        You says "yeah", I says "nah."

  9. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    So who's getting married, Blake?

    1. Deartháir Avatar
      Deartháir

      I think it's Blake and Alex. That's legal in Britain.
      /starting vicious rumours.

      1. Alff Avatar
        Alff

        Honeymooning in Paris, perhaps?[youtube SBuKuA9nHsw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBuKuA9nHsw youtube]

  10. Deartháir Avatar
    Deartháir

    He must have, because if anyone has ever stomped on the gas in an old British diesel, they'll know that "acceleration" is not one of the results. "Noise", "black clouds of soot", "puddles of oil", "a new tax from the Lord Mayor of London", and "valves through the bonnet" are all possible results. Acceleration is not.

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      Not true. Despite its often restricted usage in the context of discussing automotive performance, the word "acceleration" also applies to a decreasing speed. This is a perfectly reasonable outcome upon depressing any pedal in any British vehicle, except perhaps those which are intended to actuate the clutch or brakes.

  11. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Found this on Wikipedia under Tower Bridge Incidents:
    "The Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident occurred on 5 April 1968, when a Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter FGA.9 jet fighter from No. 1 Squadron, flown by Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock, flew under Tower Bridge. Unimpressed that senior staff were not going to celebrate the RAF's 50th birthday with a fly-past, Pollock decided to do something himself. Without authorisation, Pollock flew the Hunter at low level down the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament, and continued on to Tower Bridge. He flew the Hunter beneath the bridge's walkway, remarking afterwards it was an afterthought when he saw the bridge looming ahead of him. Knowing that he was likely to be stripped of his flying status as a result of this display, he proceeded to "beat up"[Note 1] several airfields in inverted flight at an altitude of about 200 feet en route to his base at RAF West Raynham. Pollock was placed under arrest upon landing, and discharged from the RAF on medical grounds without the chance to defend himself at a court martial. "

  12. njhoon Avatar
    njhoon

    Nor should he! I want to buy him one now. I heard he did will his balls to science to find out what type of iron they are made of.

  13. tom Avatar

    Simply put i don’t really enjoy the royale’s….

  14. planking fail Avatar