Quote:
Originally Posted by Sehnsucht
The front wall is composed of several steel components which provide structural rigidity to a point but in terms of basic physics they won't provide the same degree of impact resilience or energy absorption/deflection in a flat-nosed bus as in a conventional dog-nose one. Now the frame does extend to the front bumper so if the impact is central and low enough then the frame should provide significant rigidity but alas many impacts aren't so thought out as to aim for the appropriate center of mass.
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I suppose in the real world any impact significant enough to worry about conventional vs flat, one would be quite badly injured regardless :/
At least the frame extends to the bumper, I worked on local buses (all flat nosed) in the UK for a job and they had very little structure in the front ends other than to provide mounting for the fibreglass bodywork. Regardless, in accidents with smaller vehicles and stationary objects they stood up well and thankfully I never saw a driver badly injured in my time there.
I'll more than likely go for a flat nose for the extra useable space, although they do seem to be rarer