LawSoc Spring Ball ends with a bang as coach clips bus stop, cracking glass

Last Saturday, coaches departed from the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich carrying handfuls of soon-to-be lawyers from their annual CULS spring ball. 

For up to £105, students were invited to “Escape the Cambridge bubble for the evening”, don a mask, and partake in what was “sure to be an unforgettable night”.

Burst that bubble.

For the passengers of the now infamous Coach 1, though, the night would be remembered for another, rather more unfortunate reason.

The Committee related events as described by the coach company: “As Coach 1 left the venue, the power steering broke. The drivers from the other buses, along with the driver in Coach 1, worked quickly to move the bus into a safer position because it was blocking a one-way street.

“The bus was unable to steer and did slightly clip a bus shelter as it was moved from the middle of the street. The bus was not able to be driven back to Cambridge so we loaded as many passengers as possible onto the other three coaches and sent them off as quickly as possible. The Committee called taxis to transport the remaining guests back to Cambridge and those taxis arrived back in Cambridge around the same time as the coaches.”

According to one second-year law student, the coach driver, after the power steering broke, swiftly “reversed and got stuck between a stop sign and a bus stop”.

Students can be so cruel

“As it turns out, trying to manoeuvre a huge coach through a narrow one-way street is quite difficult,” and after “about 20 minutes” of trying to turn around, the traffic had begun to pile up.

Scathing Snapchats.

Having managed to turn out of the sticky situation, the driver, breathing a sigh of relief, put the pedal to the metal. He then promptly clipped a bus stop, according to the coach company.

One student, who was sitting in the front seat on the second floor of the bus commented: “The coach just didn’t stop! We were speeding towards this bus stop and I was convinced he was going to put on the brakes. Then the glass smashed in front of me, and I thought I was a goner.”

Another undergrad informed us that “apparently the power steering had failed, and the driver lost control of the bus”.

Fortunately, no-one was injured, and after departing the wreckage, students made their way home in cabs – paid for at the expense of CULS.

One shell-shocked undergrad on his way home.

Jessica Matheret, Social Sec of CULS, suggested that the crash was a minor hiccup in an otherwise successful ball:

“There are two kinds of people at the end of these events: the dead and the alive. Most of us were definitely dead, passed out or exhausted.

“I fell asleep on my neighbour’s shoulder and woke up in Cambridge – the breakdown wasn’t exactly too much of an issue.”

The Committee for the Ball offered the following comment: “The Committee is thankful to the coach company for their quick response to a difficult situation. We hope that the overall hugely positive experience of the CULS Masquerade Spring Ball 2016 has been preserved for all guests.”