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Where (in theory) is the safest place to sit on a coach?
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Near to an emergency door I would have thought and with a seatbelt on if provided. Would have thought the front was a bit vulnerable?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Should have added that I'm asking so I can advise my kids (6 & 8) accordingly.
In case that makes a difference to the answers.
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An interesting question Rebecca and you are to be commended for thinking so seriously about your childrens safety.
I would also avoid the front of any coach, acres of glass from the windscreen has to be a weak point in the event of a head on or driver side to driver side collision which are probably the most likely scenario on a single track road.
I agree that sitting next to an emergency door is good, quite often however these appear to be 'knock out' rear windscreen type and could your kids manage to open the doors in the event of a crash.
Most of the recent serious coach crashes appear to me to be occurring at speed when the coach has to swerve suddenly, going off the motorway, overturns and rolls down a motorway embankment with the passenger compartment collapsing and crushing occupants .
In such cases I am afraid nowhere appears to be safe.
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[snip] Typos corrected and blushes spared. All part of the service. Mark.
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"Most of the recent serious coach crashes appear to me to be occurring at speed when the coach has to swerve suddenly, going off the motorway, overturns and rolls down a motorway embankment with the passenger compartment collapsing and crushing occupants ."
...Or throwing the people inside out of the windows - either a blessing or a fatal move depending on the surrounding terrain it seems.
Alternatively, those sitting by the windows may incur serious injuries from glass shards or direct head-to-ground contact?
What a cheery subject this is!
If i had to choose, it'd be an aisle seat near the middle of the coach, seatbelt firmly done up and armrest down.
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On the back seat. Then when the unthinkable happens, and from the mass of twisted metal and broken glass your soul rises up to meet your maker, at least you'll be happy from having mooned car drivers, mad rude gestures at caravan owners and had injudicious flirtations with other classmates.
Personally, i'd always sit next to the good looking french teacher, wherever she was sitting.
Personally
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Where (in theory) is the safest place to sit on a coach?
Inside is safer
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In India it's safest to sit on the roof. You'll be thrown well clear by the inertia, and not have a window to fly through on the way.
And there are no low bridges in India.
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Is that the good looking teacher of French or from France? Or both!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Well it's definitely Friday afternoon comedy fever on here then!
Come on, it's a legitimate question isn't it?
As I put the 6 year old onto the coach, if I can improve his chances in an (unlikely) accident even by a nano-thingy, by asking him to sit in the front/middle/back/window/aisle then that's something I would like to do.
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Most injuries occured in coach crashes appear to be to people who sit next to the window. They get half thrown through the window and then dragged around under the coach as it goes on its side.
SO safest place is
Isle seat, in the middle of the coach, row of seats that are against a side window pillar. If the coach has seatbelts - use them
If he is like me as a kid tho he will be up the back seat, smoking a crafty fag and swigging from a can of old english.
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>>If he is like me as a kid tho he will be up the back seat, smoking a crafty fag and swigging from a can of old english.
He's 6 !!!!!!
Just going by damaged coaches that you see...
Front end seems to cop it, presumably because that's the bit that gets hit first.
Passenger side always seems to be hurt worse, presumably because the drivers side will hit other vehicles or crash barriers which are low where as the passenger side will hit trees, cliffs, rocks and bridges, which are a great deal higher and heavier.
Back rarely seems to get badly broken - presumably because the only thing that could do that would be a truck, and trucks can't catch up with the coach fast enough to hurt itm. Cars and the like would go under the back.
You do hear about people being thrown out, so I'd suggest that a seat belt would stop that, but at least sitting away from the window would help.
The further back presumably the more force that has been taken out of the impact.
Sitting in the middle at the back and there is nothing to stop you going forward whereas anywhere else the seat in front will stop you.
Sitting in the aisle near the back might mean that the guy from the back, middle seat is going to hit you in the back of the neck as he comes flying forward.
So....
I'd sit wearing a seat belt, on the passenger side, in the aisle, about 2/3 of the way back.
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Mark
can we have the precise seat number please.
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There is so much glass on a modern bus that its a danger wherever you sit. I would say that the safest place is over the rear axle - and wear a belt, if available.
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You're right - maybe it is a legitimate question but given that accidents are, by their nature, rather unpredictable I suspect that it's impossible to make a meaningful judgement.
A far more effective use of your time would be to 1) Make sure that whoever is organising the trip employs a coach operator who has belts fitted in their vehicles. 2) Make sure that your kids use them. 3) Don't fill your kids' heads with unnecessary anxiety.
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1 - already do (hard to find coaches without)
2 - always do (school insist and check)
3 - don't do
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And 4. Don't worry.
I have children of a similar age and you have to chill. They know to put seatbelts on in our cars, and they are well supervised (I hope!) so the worst that can happen apart from a crash is that they get muddy or homesick.
Don't think about the worst, think about the precautions you have taken and the enjoyment the children will have on their day out.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Much the greatest risk comes from the fumes belched out by old school coaches. In west Wales the operators put their oldest and smokiset buses onto school routes, presumably it is easy money for a regular contract and the local authorities don't seem to care about the emmisions standards.
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There is no such thing as an absolute safe place to sit on a bus because accidents do not follow a set pattern.
Minimising the risk is the game and Mark above takes the biscuit for the reasons he gives.
I was on duty the day of the Dibbles Bridhe Coach crash in N. Yorks when 31 elderly passengers sustained fatal injuries.....
DVD
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If i had to choose, it'd be an aisle seat near the middle of the coach, seatbelt firmly done up and armrest down.
It's a question of trying to get the law of averages on your side, isn't it?
I think Mr Hawesy1982 has got it about right. Try for
An aisle seat - away from windows
Preferably near-side - away from head-on collisions
Mid-way between axles - smoother ride, less chance of travel sickness
Seat belt on at all times
But what about when that nice Miss Carruthers says - don't sit there Isombard, because you always fight with Sacheverell?
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At my old school there was a fleet of 30 coaches taking students home. Seat belts were fitted but no one wore them, and no one checked.
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