School Bus Crash in Ohio

[Gregory The Scot]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/11/us/oh...rnd/index.html

The article harps on the lack of seat belts and calls it "terrifying", which I'm sure it was for the kids and driver. But in the end, those on the school bus only had minor injuries. Doesn't look like the bus is repairable, but it still protected the people in it well and stayed in one piece.

[UnicornWizard]

No information on vehicle speeds, but it looks like the bus held up extremely well! "Minor injuries" could mean anything from muscle soreness to a bloody nose. From my time working for the government, it didn't matter how minor an injury or complaint of injury was... you had to get checked out at the hospital.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Bus did the job is was designed, engineered and built to do. Buses can be replaced. Innocent lives, not so much. Glad there were no serious injuries and (presumably) everyone aboard will be OK. Can't say too much for the Mustang driver who was reported to have a "broken back".


*THIS* is why I drive a retired school bus!

[Johnny Mullet]

Nobody died.

[Marceps]

I have three takeaways:

• School buses are strong; news at 11:00.
• Holy hell, that Mustang put up a fight. Tipping over a 12+ ton steel beast is damn impressive for a vehicle that size.
• 74 years old and still driving the kids... I hope it's not for the money. We need to figure out how to better take care of one another in this country--in old age or otherwise.

[milkmania]

Griffith bus crash is what convinced me that a bus is the way to go

A total of 29 people, including 21 students, were taken to three area hospitals to be treated for non-life threatening injuries, Indiana State Police said.

https://tinyurl.com/r7wk7b6

[brokedown]

If my father and father in law are good examples, they're both in that age group and are still working because they'd be bored and not know what to do with themselves otherwise.

[WIbluebird]

Mandatory seatbelts are almost impossible to enforce. I personally don't see the reasoning behind them because the seat backs are designed to keep passengers contained in accidents.

This one is odd though, I can def question how a Mustang would have enough intertia to tip over a full size bus.

[cadillackid]

the mustang spun the bus around.. and the bus tripped on its own tires or an expoansion jopint in the road (doesnt take much) and fell over... you can see its sideways across the road after the hit..



-Christopher

[musigenesis]

Heh, bus driver checking their phone before even getting out of the bus.

I'm kind of surprised by how much the roof behind the passenger door deformed inwards, given that the bus doesn't appear to have hit anything (after the car hit it, of course). Unless it smacked into the guardrail and then rolled back to where it ended up.

[Booyah45828]

They can make all the calls for seatbelts that they want, but there is no way to enforce their use while in route, and the whiplash from the seatbelt usage in this scenario would likely have rendered the same result in injuries.

And nobody ever mentions car/booster seats in busses, which are supposed to be used up until a child is around 10. Or how do you design a system that will fit every body that will be in them, a kindergartener that weighs 50 lbs to a high schooler that weighs 300+?

What happens when the kids are hanging upside down, can't get the belt to release because of the weight, and the bus is on fire? Should we make it the responsibility of the driver to unclip all the kids before they burn to death?

Everyone likes to think the seatbelts are some save all measure, but they're not. We should always be looking to improve safety on busses, but seat belts aren't it IMO.

Look at school bus fatality stats. More die getting on and off of them then they do riding in them. Last stats I recall said that on average 9 kids die each year on a school bus. One is too many, but would seat belts actually curb that number? I think not.

[PNW_Steve]

If I were a driver the idea of seat belts would scare me.

I have a horrible vision of being in a bus on its side, on fire and having 20 kids that need help getting out of their seatbelts.

I drove a bus once that had seatbelts for the kids. The key chain had a seatbelt cutter on it and there was another one hanging from the engine cover. They wanted to be sure the driver always had one handy.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

They can make all the calls for seatbelts that they want, but there is no way to enforce their use while in route, and the whiplash from the seatbelt usage in this scenario would likely have rendered the same result in injuries.

And nobody ever mentions car/booster seats in busses, which are supposed to be used up until a child is around 10. Or how do you design a system that will fit every body that will be in them, a kindergartener that weighs 50 lbs to a high schooler that weighs 300+?

Look at school bus fatality stats. More die getting on and off of them then they do riding in them. Last stats I recall said that on average 9 kids die each year on a school bus. One is too many, but would seat belts actually curb that number? I think not.

We only use booster seats for special needs children that are inclined to wander or are unable to stay in their seats.

You should see the statistics for letting your kid ride the school bus to school versus driving them there. The chances of getting a fatality while riding the bus is incredibly lower than taking a car.

[Cheepshooter]

This video is why I worry about roof raises. I'm sure it is possible that the integrity of the bus can be retained if the factory roof is cut and raised, but I'm skeptical that it generally is.

[nightanole]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

If I were a driver the idea of seat belts would scare me.

I have a horrible vision of being in a bus on its side, on fire and having 20 kids that need help getting out of their seatbelts.

I drove a bus once that had seatbelts for the kids. The key chain had a seatbelt cutter on it and there was another one hanging from the engine cover. They wanted to be sure the driver always had one handy.

Yea imagine the nose catches fire from electrical, and you have 50-100 "under 10 year olds" you need to help unbelt while burnt rubber smoke is filling the cab. Its the main argument most states use for not installing seatbelts.

[hammerdg]

The purpose for no seat belts in school busses is in case of a fire starting, the passengers can get off unassisted. Otherwise in a situation of fire the driver would have to try free as many as possible if he was conscious.

[harleydoug]

The bus did it's job just as designed. The main passenger area is supposed to detach from the bus frame in a severe collision and keep the kiddies inside and out of any further harm's way. Yes, the roof collapsed, but the main shell was still intact and everyone was contained inside. Seat belts are almost a joke because it is impossible to make the kiddies wear them, and seat belt cutters are almost standard equipment in all the school districts. The pre-trip inspection form has them on the list.

[musigenesis]

The bus body is not meant to detach from the frame in a severe collision. It is only meant to slide forward along the chassis rails in the event of a head-on collision. This is why the body is clamped to the chassis rails instead of being welded or bolted.

[harleydoug]

If you follow the Thomas Built CONVENTIONAL (IE: 3800 series) they are designed to detach. The rear engine buses are designed to slide forward. It appears that this is a conventional series bus. Yes, you are correct with your style of bus.

[Native]

I found it interesting that you could see the impact and it looked like they hit a pothole or something like that. Of course, the camera did not pick up the world outside so it looked more like "all is normal" until the roll.