BusTalk

[Dieseljim]

In a posting under Over the Road Carriers, I have suggested that seatbelts and shoulder harnesses be installed in highway coaches to stop the ejection of passengers from the bus in a rollover crash. Perhaps the same thing should be done with suburban type buses used on limited stops express runs between suburbs and cities. Even suburban buses are susceptible to the same type of rollover accidents that their intercity cousins encounter when involved in accidents. In a suburban bus, other than the approach to one's stop to get off, why would anyone want to be moving around inside the bus? Most suburbans are not generally equipped with washrooms on board as are most intercity buses. The transit type bus which makes ALL stops along its route is a whole different beast, one in which seatbelts, except for the driver, would possibly be unworkable due to the frequency of stops and starts. After hearing so much news about commercial bus accidents, it seems to me that the safety of these vehicles has been sadly neglected at the expense of needless injuries and deaths. This nonsense has got to stop.

[shortlineMCI]

Jim..

In theory you are right. A bus that flips over has people inside that must go through a living hell as the bus flips. Remember that it is rare though considering how many millions and millions of miles that are logged per day by all three divisions of Trailways and Greyhound, and in some cases, us (Shortline)

On our long distance runs such as Monticello and runs much further west than that is where I can see a big problem..first a cost factor. The belts, buckles, tie downs, screws, (hardware) and the manpower for an entire fleet of OTR buses. You would have to state a pretty serious case over something that doesn't happen that often actually.

That bus that is being retrofitted with that seat belts would have to be taken out of service for the duration of the seatbelt fittings and at least I know our Operations Dept doesn't like their buses to sit. Lots of revenue loses there.

Lastly, try telling a bus full of adults they have to put their seat belts on before the bus can move. We'd take an awful beating and lots of lip service from our passengers for trying to enforce that. We don't' even like enforcing the Cell Phone policy. Can you imagine a seatbelt policy?

[Dieseljim]

Point well taken. It seems to me that most of the problems lie with those companies that operate charter and tour service exclusively and do not have any line run service.

[RailBus63]

[Dieseljim]

That sounds exactly like the way to go. Phase it in gradually without disrupting carrier operations too much.

[traildriver]

To refresh this old thread...The 2009 and 2011 buses that Adirondack, Pine Hill, and New York Trailways received from Prevost all are equipped with lap/shoulder belts. The seats are heavily fortified as "containment" seats, and protect occupants even if they don't use the belts. These are similar to seats in school buses, and almost as uncomfortable to sit in, although the 2011 versions are improved somewhat. As yet there are no regulations requiring belt use, but I'm sure its coming when more of the fleet changes to newer buses in a few years....

[shortlineMCI]

Great topic to bring back...timing is just about right too. We recieved about 10 buses or so from MCI and they all came equipped with seatbelts.