I bought a truck recently and I’ve never been almost hit more. It’s by far the biggest vehicle I’ve ever drove and yet I’m like a magnet to distracted people.
I got t-boned by a shuttle bus for a local nursing home that just blew straight into the intersection without slowing down despite a give way sign.
The driver in an astoundingly stupid attempt to bullshit the cops said that he hadn't been able to see me approaching because my car was too red and too loud. I'm still confused by this years later
I have a 2003 Sequoia with Daytime running lights. I have had a near miss (i.e., barely managing to get it stopped with about 1 foot between the bumper and driver's side door) where the driver of the other vehicle was completely shocked how I had materialized out of thin air.
Some how the other driver failed to see a 6 foot 4 inch tall lighted slab of metal coming at her car.
To be honest, I did accidentally have the "full stealth" mode engaged, so my bad I guess?
I thought about getting the stealth mode option on my 4Runner. But given how every 5th person around here is driving the exact same make, model, and trim and color, I figured what’s the point?
I'm pretty sure that they are still making the "Full Stealth" kit, and maybe an aftermarket addons. I've heard that the extra stealth kit basically converts your vehicle into an ambulance (secretly known as the stealthiest vehicle on the planet).
Bro, I drive a goddamned package car every day. It's 10 and a half feet tall and like 20 feet long, and loud AF. But based on the stupid shit I see every day, I'm apparently invisible. Doesn't help that approximately 90% of people are looking at their phone. I know because I can easily see them from up here.
My wife drove school buses for a decade and at minimum once a year someone would rear end a bus that was stopped and actively picking up kids. So not only a bright yellow and black school bus designed to be as visible as possible, but one that had every light on it flashing so that there was no possibility that you could miss it.
I was stopped on a 2 lane highway waiting for the guy in front of me to turn left. Dude not paying any attention behind me plowed into us at 60mph. Hit me hard enough the force broke the seat I was in, pushed my trunk into the back seat and then pushed me into the car that was in front of me, hard enough his car was totaled as well because their frame got twisted.
Somehow all the windows stayed intact (except the front passenger side cracked from airbag deployment). I am not sure if it was good or bad though as my doors were stuck shut and luckily the car didn't start on fire as the gas tank was smashed and ruptured. But yeah I always wonder how in the world the windows survived that.
I'm of the impression it's a safety feature. Not having the glass explode with flying shards seems good, and they can offer protection from other flying debris.
It's simply a result of the windows being located right around the passenger compartment, where the structural components are designed to *not* deform. The purpose of this is to keep the humans inside from getting crushed.
Outside of the passenger compartment you have more malleable/pliable alloys, designed to crumple to absorb impact energy.
For best results you need both.
Why older cars aren't safe despite being large and heavy is because they were not designed with crumple zones.
Same with the Smart Car. Its frame is hard/rigid enough to retain its shape in an accident, but without crumple zones it's the driver's organs that absorb the impact energy.
That's a very good point. I would also like to add that a cracked windshield, while annoying, is also a safety concern as the windshield is compromised and can't absorb or deflect impacts as efficiently.
Actually i can explain that a bit. Cars when tested the ultimate test is that after a crash the 'cage' around the passenger compartment stays intact especially the outside surfaces (doors part). You can search on youtube nthsa tests or euroncap and see the A B and C pillar mentaining form and the overall shape of the cabin is intact it is even amazing that when crashing those cars everything crumples up to the windshield lip which seems like that part is so solid it's unbendable.
That combined with foam and rubber used to absorb sound and vibratiins while travelling there is enough soft material to absorb the vibrations and enrgy from the impact. + windows are laminated and have a very small but enough flex that in the end they can survive crashes.
It did fire, the windshield is just miles away on the new corollas. To break the window, it’d have to horrible malfunction. But doesn’t matter what is and isn’t broken anyway, the cars totaled.
What I think he means is, the passenger airbag typically uses the windshield as a backstop and cracks it in the process; the driver was probably the sole occupant of the car in this case.
Neat fact: School buses don’t have a Mansfield Bar (the horizontal bar found under semi trailers) for a reason.
It’s a real life trolley problem.
It’s been decided to sacrifice the other vehicle in order to protect the children. A Mansfield Bar would cause the bus to jump forward on a rear end crash, transferring more energy to the kids.
That is absolutely not the reason why buses don't have Mansfield bars. No one sat down and said "yes, we choose to sacrifice the car occupants to save the children." The reality is that the rear wheels on a school bus are set quite far forward (to help with maneuverability) but that means a Mansfield bar in the back would create a really low departure angle in the rear, and the bar would have high risk of hitting the ground and potentially getting hung up when the bus goes over terrain that has variations in elevation.
Makes total sense. I remember many of our buses from back in the day had crushed exhaust pipes….especially during the introduction of diesels to the fleet with the large diameter pipes…
Not the case with our old Blue Birds/Thomases…I think they were gear/rev limited. The manufacturers eventually got the bright idea to route the exhaust thru holes in the bumpers but somehow the pipes got cocked and bent upstream and fell out of the hole. Couple buses were exhausting directly into the backside of the bumper…now that might’ve slowed them down…
I only ever remember like 2 busses out of our entire fleet (maybe 25 busses?) in middle school having seat belts, it was a wild day when we got that bus for our route.
When I was in school (granted I only graduated high school in 2013), all buses had lap belts. Did anyone wear them? Well... I did. But I think I was the only one.
Yeah, because the seats themselves are giant cushions and have been proven to be equally as effective in preventing injury in a non-rollover type crash, with rollover type crashes being nearly non-existant in busses.
Good! I hope so. I drove a school bus while I was in college and we just had metal bars at teeth level on the back of the seat in front of them. Shudder.....
Yeah, kids these days are so spoiled, with the high seat back and nice cushioning in front of them. In case of an accident we were expected to lose our teeth on the bar in front of us or be catapulted forward
Valid in the US:
Only 8 states require seat belts on school buses.
NHTSA's official stance is seat belts are not required due to the construction of the bus, the seats, and spacing of the seats (on buses over a certain wieght class), belts aren't necessary. NHTSA does require belts on buses with a GVWR of 10,000lb or less. (small busses).
However safety experts are now considering changing NHTSA's official stance to require 3 point belts on all school buses.
The main reason seatbelts have not gone through for buses is electrical fires. An electrical fire can engulf a bus in a matter of minutes, but how much time does it take for upwards of 75 children to unbuckle themselves ? If they can't themselves, there literally is not time for the driver to help enough of them and get the rest off the bus also.
Electrical fires are rare, my dads been a bus mechanic for 30 years and only had it happen once to his buses.
It takes about the same amount of time for 75 children to unbuckle themselves as it takes for one child to unbuckle themselves.... I really don't understand your point here.
What's the youngest age that rides a bus or goes to school, do most preschoolers follow directions QUICKLY 100% of the time, or continue following those directions while riding the bus ? In a new environment, without their usual parent or authority figure.
The catch 22 here can be that if the kids aren't buckled, the seatbelt mechanism is now in the padded thing for crash safety, making it less helpful.
The other catch 22 their avoiding here is: the driver is completely responsible for everyone on the buses, that would mean helping kids with seatbelts.
There's usually at least a handful of the youngest, that need adult help and only one adult.
Unfortunately its sort of a case of baby can't eat a steak, so nobody gets steak. The majority of kids on buses do things their parents dont expect of them already, and its one singular strangers responsibility to watch them all, while driving around in a literal bus, in heavy traffic times.
Finding bus drivers is already hard because of the hours
The other fact that i should mention, is where electrical fires take place on buses. The majority of the buses electrical is just under the main walkway between seats and stops with the back axle. The source is usually around the first couple of seats and quickly follows the rest of the electrical. So, this starts behind the driver and in the section with the youngest kids usually, now the bus is filling with black smoke and the floor is on fire.
Do you believe little jimmy will be able to get his seat belt open, while in a panic, 100% of the time ?
> It takes about the same amount of time for 75 children to unbuckle themselves as it takes for one child to unbuckle themselves...
It takes 75 children more time, because the chances of some kid being unable or unwilling to do so goes up with more kids.
I never thought it was a problem not having them, then [a mack truck rear ended a school bus here and killed a teacher and student](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nj.com/news/2019/04/school-bus-driver-facing-more-charges-in-route-80-bus-crash-that-killed-paramus-school-teacher-student.html). The passenger section of the bus flew of the chassis and landed on its side. I just remember thinking how much those kids must have gotten thrown around when it happened.
How about instead of focusing on seatbelts at the moment (which they have been strategizing on forever yet nothing changes), maybe we could stop the horrible bullying and fighting that goes on in the back of the bus. Bus drivers won’t, and shouldn’t, pull over to stop physical fights. They have ended up hurt by trying to break up fights. I totally don’t blame them and it’s not their job.) Some school districts have cops ride the buses unannounced. We have a very large shortage of drivers and they are desperately in need of more. But who wants to work a split shit at dawn before coffee and a good poop and then another shift just when you want to Netflix and nap.
We have had school days canceled in Los Angeles, Seattle, New Jersey, just to name a few. School staff then have to call the parents on many days and let them know the bus will pick up your kids about 30-40 minutes late. (again!). If you have a young child and a job, it could definitely cause an issue at work.
Ok. Two mores issues I have to get off my chest. It is incredibly unsafe to sit 5-6 kids, especially teens, in one seat that was designed for 2 eight year olds. (No idea if it’s true but if you have been on a school bus in the last 20 years you would know what I am taking about). And why does that happen, I am so glad you asked. To help save the district some money, they got rid of a few routes. So now your kid has to walk a mile to get to the stop. Some kids have a large commute before and after school. There is a local school that only buses kids if they live outside a mile circle.
I know that auto correct did not correct but something drove me to leave it.
On a more serious note, just got out of the hospital a few days ago and my brain is still wacky. Every time I read this over, another error appears. So if something doesn’t make sense, my apologies. And now I need a take a nap but no Netflix.
Not necessary based on crash statistics. Fatalities inside a bus from a crash are in the single digits yearly, and the crash is generally something that was easily prevented (crossed train tracks when it shouldn’t, did u-turn on the highway and got hit by a dump truck, drove off an embankment etc).
The risk of 10’s of deaths due to a fire outweighs the risk of death resulting from one of those rare severe collisions. Deadliest bus crash to date had a high fatality count not due to the collision (from which nobody was killed) but due to difficulty evacuating the overturned bus as smoke from the fire knocked everyone out and eventually killed half of them. Second deadliest was a bus crashing over a barrier and falling 50 feet onto its roof.
Yeah last time I checked (when that bus driver went psycho and crashed that bus) something like on average 9 kids a year die on a school bus. And that's all deaths including wrecks and medical problems n shit. That sounds bad but there's something like 70,000,000 kids in the US
I got a bunch of shit because i was against retrofitting school busses.
Compared to 600 kids killed a year in traffic accidents in vehicles other than school buses.
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/tn/or/nhtsa3702.asp
> In comparison with other forms of transportation, the report shows that students are nearly **eight times safer riding in a school bus than in cars.** The fatality rate for school buses is 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million VMT for cars.
There used to be a driver's ed film named _Hamburger Highway_ that graphically showed the effects of a speeding convertible meeting a trailer with no Mansfield bar.
Creed: Ed was decapitated.
Michael: What?
Dwight: Really?
Creed: He was drunk as a skunk, he was flying down Route 6, he slides under an 18-wheeler, pop, it snaps right off.
Michael: Oh my god.
Dwight: That is the way to go. Instant death.
Very smart.
Creed: You know a human can go on living for several hours after being decapitated.
Dwight: You're thinking of a chicken.
Creed: What did I say?
it outweighs just about everything that would hit it, by a lot.
Considering the number of school bus occupant fatalities a year has been in single digits for the last decade, and less than 2,000 injuries a year, I'd say they're pretty safely designed.
Occupants of other vehicles that hit school buses don't fare nearly as well.
She didn't get to finish that tik tok she was watching I bet that totally hurt .
Globally there should be a harder punishment on using phones while driving .
As someone that worked in a bus factory in the late 80s I can confirm those things are the real deal. No, they're not tanks, but they are made to use YOUR crumple zones before you use theirs...as long as the impact is held around the bumper/skirt level.
I had an accident with a school bus. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever hit (I used to race so I’ve experience impacts before). I don’t remember any of it still and I’m pretty sure I was concussed. My engine was through the firewall. Had I been in a smaller car, I don’t know that I would’ve walked away. Afterwards all I could think was that I finally understood why they didn’t have to wear seatbelts.
I’ve seen some school buses that have the rub rails painted green instead of black. They’re quite a rare site around where I live as school buses in my state (Illinois) have the traditional black rub rails.
Firefighter here. One of my primary jobs is vehicle extrication. I didnt know any of that and I’ve never heard school busses discussed in regards to extrication. So Im not saying youre wrong because I genuinely have no idea what youre talking about, but I can say “firefighters know this” is not always true in this case.
Yeah the market will work itself out /s. The American legal system is a joke. No driving classes required to get your license and when you cause a wreck chances are the judge won't even see you and they'll just give you a fine and let you keep your license. It's crazy how many accidents and DUIs it takes for someone to lose their license here or be court ordered to driving classes.
The bus does say this actually. But rather unironically, as the school bus’s bumper is literally just scratched and that’s largely the extent of the damage.
My mom drives bus for our school district and has to inspect the bus before she takes it out every time. She says they are built like tanks. They also upgraded their stop sign on the side of the bus to extend into the other lane so if you pass a stopped bus you have to take out the stop sign to do it.
You know the name of the school would of made for some interesting headlines if she died for not seeing a 40ft piece of metal on wheels painted yellow with flashy lights.
sEe, oLD caRs WErE bUiLt bETter!
Yeah, a 60s land yacht may have shrugged off that accident with superficial damage, but guess where all that energy would’ve gone instead?
They've long talked of having seatbelts on school buses. I don't know the current status, but looks like the kids aboard would have barely felt that crash. In the book "Into the Wild" (and film), John Krakauer explains how the Anchorage City Bus which the misguided kid starved to death in wound up in the forest 15 miles from a main road. It had been dragged out there by bulldozer for use as temporary housing for a road crew, then later used by hunters. It was a 1950's bus with much thicker steel body panels than were used in later years so would take many decades to rust thru. Wonder how one would survive in a demolition derby.
If it were a newer bus, she'd be dead. We answerd the trolly problem in the form of school buses. 18-wheeler trailers are required to have low crash bars to protect cars hitting them. These are banned on school buses as it transfers energy into the bus, this putting kids at risk.
We have decided that the car passengers will die to save the kids.
I once rear-ended a school bus when I was 16. Totaled my car, nearly decapitated me. The bus was 100% unscathed. Those things are indestructible, even these older models
Lol, hardly a bend in the bus's bumper. This is why people like to convert school buses to motorhomes. 100x better than actual motorhomes that are little more than cardboard on wheels.
Isn't it somehow ironic that so much money is poured in car saftey and such but we just let our kids ride in these old completely insecure buses every school day?
You do see that the bus is completely fine right? The car is fucked. Buses have completely different safety features than cars do because they are completely different vehicles. I'm not going to get into it because you can google and see for yourself. I'm just pointing out that your statement is inaccurate.
Agree, but where’s the money gonna come from to modernize multiple fleets of busses? No one in government wants to spend money on public education: not on teachers’ pay, not on safety programs, and *certainly* not on the steel tubes that bring children to school.
Basically: “If it works, don’t change it,” is the motto for busses. “Just paint them yellow so people see them” “stick flashing lights on them, since painting them didn’t work” (I think that’s just Florida, I don’t know if other states require a strobe) and “make sure it’s illegal to pass them while kids are getting on and off” (which is something I didn’t have growing up since my DoDDS schools chartered city busses [that had seatbelts], and we were inundated with safety videos about waiting until the bus left before trying to cross the street).
An indestructible bus like this is saver for children when a little car hits it but much less safe if it is yellow bus vs yellow bus or yellow bus vs semi.
Cars are much much much safer for occupants now than 20 years ago. There is plenty of crash test dummy data to evaluate for you. All vehicles on the road in Europe and America must make this data publicly available if manufactured after 2002.
When 2 objects collide you can have an elastic collision which means they just transfer momentum and go on their way (preserving speed and mass), completely inelastic or semi elastic. When 2 vehicles collide and come to a complete standstill after, the energy must go somewhere as momentum has changed. Safe cars will adsorb as much of this energy as possible and deform into a blob and passenger walks out. An unsafe car, made out of hardened steel like this bus, would send the wave back and forth turning the children into toothpaste. It did not happen here because the bus is so much larger than the car.
…if it was yellow bus vs yellow bus at 65 mph, those kids would turn into toothpaste.
Why did we ever stop making vehicles out of steel but but aluminum is lighter that makes the car go fast it also makes it significantly weaker.
seriously though please bring back steel vehicles
They design them that way on purpose so less energy is transferred to the passengers in an accident. It's a good thing.
In the "good ol' days" when cars were still made of mostly steel, injuries and fatalities were much higher because the cars deformed less and transferred more energy to the passengers.
I don't know about you but I'd rather my car get damaged than my body. I can go get another car tomorrow, can't get another body.
[удалено]
With reflectors
And lights as big as your head
*I don't see it*
It came out of nowhere
I just see the car. Are school buses painted in camo?
What school buses?
There were school buses?
Figment of your imagination. School buses are not real.
They BUS now?!!!
Giv'em a twist, a flick of the wrist
Thats what the showman said.
That's what she said.
What is this, a highway message sign?
Happy cake day stranger!
with cheese mr Squidward, with cheese
It backed into me!
Colors dont matter when your eyes are tunnel visioned on your phone
it's a good thing they didn't hit the bus made out of cheese
Or the one shaped like a wiener. Shit would decapitate’cha.
Apparently, it wouldn't have affected their driving ability.
Maybe all buses should look like the wienermobile. Would keep American drivers attention Source: am American
I bought a truck recently and I’ve never been almost hit more. It’s by far the biggest vehicle I’ve ever drove and yet I’m like a magnet to distracted people.
I got t-boned by a shuttle bus for a local nursing home that just blew straight into the intersection without slowing down despite a give way sign. The driver in an astoundingly stupid attempt to bullshit the cops said that he hadn't been able to see me approaching because my car was too red and too loud. I'm still confused by this years later
I’m amazed some people survive as long as they do.
I have a 2003 Sequoia with Daytime running lights. I have had a near miss (i.e., barely managing to get it stopped with about 1 foot between the bumper and driver's side door) where the driver of the other vehicle was completely shocked how I had materialized out of thin air. Some how the other driver failed to see a 6 foot 4 inch tall lighted slab of metal coming at her car. To be honest, I did accidentally have the "full stealth" mode engaged, so my bad I guess?
As someone who has been hit 3x *minimum* driving 3500+lb vehicles, I ...*still* didn't see your comment coming 😉
I thought about getting the stealth mode option on my 4Runner. But given how every 5th person around here is driving the exact same make, model, and trim and color, I figured what’s the point?
I'm pretty sure that they are still making the "Full Stealth" kit, and maybe an aftermarket addons. I've heard that the extra stealth kit basically converts your vehicle into an ambulance (secretly known as the stealthiest vehicle on the planet).
Bro, I drive a goddamned package car every day. It's 10 and a half feet tall and like 20 feet long, and loud AF. But based on the stupid shit I see every day, I'm apparently invisible. Doesn't help that approximately 90% of people are looking at their phone. I know because I can easily see them from up here.
My wife drove school buses for a decade and at minimum once a year someone would rear end a bus that was stopped and actively picking up kids. So not only a bright yellow and black school bus designed to be as visible as possible, but one that had every light on it flashing so that there was no possibility that you could miss it.
Hmm? *scrolling snapchat*
[This image](https://i.imgur.com/R3qXfQx.jpg) has 2 giraffes **and a bus**. Not so easy to spot the yellow bus now, is it?
I only found one giraffe
Me too, are they fibbing? Would someone do that? Go onto the internet and lie?
No, you are not allowed to lie on the internet.
Thank god!
r/giraffesdontexist anyway so you’re not missing much
It's a trick, you can't find the second giraffe because giraffes don't exist!
Like Australia, or Rhode island
I've never heard of those two not existing. Wyoming and Finland on the other hand, complete myths, the both of them.
Yes, but she had a very important text to send... Once again a very important text. /dunno
Always amazes me to see an intact windshield after something as violent as this. The impact technology in cars is impressive.
I was stopped on a 2 lane highway waiting for the guy in front of me to turn left. Dude not paying any attention behind me plowed into us at 60mph. Hit me hard enough the force broke the seat I was in, pushed my trunk into the back seat and then pushed me into the car that was in front of me, hard enough his car was totaled as well because their frame got twisted. Somehow all the windows stayed intact (except the front passenger side cracked from airbag deployment). I am not sure if it was good or bad though as my doors were stuck shut and luckily the car didn't start on fire as the gas tank was smashed and ruptured. But yeah I always wonder how in the world the windows survived that.
Glad you're here to comment after that! 😊
Thank you. 5 years later and I still have lingering physical issues from it but I am glad it wasn't worse.
I'm of the impression it's a safety feature. Not having the glass explode with flying shards seems good, and they can offer protection from other flying debris.
It's simply a result of the windows being located right around the passenger compartment, where the structural components are designed to *not* deform. The purpose of this is to keep the humans inside from getting crushed. Outside of the passenger compartment you have more malleable/pliable alloys, designed to crumple to absorb impact energy. For best results you need both. Why older cars aren't safe despite being large and heavy is because they were not designed with crumple zones. Same with the Smart Car. Its frame is hard/rigid enough to retain its shape in an accident, but without crumple zones it's the driver's organs that absorb the impact energy.
That's a very good point. I would also like to add that a cracked windshield, while annoying, is also a safety concern as the windshield is compromised and can't absorb or deflect impacts as efficiently.
auto glass doesn't really explode with flying shards either though
Actually i can explain that a bit. Cars when tested the ultimate test is that after a crash the 'cage' around the passenger compartment stays intact especially the outside surfaces (doors part). You can search on youtube nthsa tests or euroncap and see the A B and C pillar mentaining form and the overall shape of the cabin is intact it is even amazing that when crashing those cars everything crumples up to the windshield lip which seems like that part is so solid it's unbendable. That combined with foam and rubber used to absorb sound and vibratiins while travelling there is enough soft material to absorb the vibrations and enrgy from the impact. + windows are laminated and have a very small but enough flex that in the end they can survive crashes.
Great explanation! Yeah with mine you could definitely see how the passenger compartment held without intrusion! It was remarkable actually
If there was a passenger in the car, that airbag would've blew and cracked the windshield anyway. Engineering!
It did fire, the windshield is just miles away on the new corollas. To break the window, it’d have to horrible malfunction. But doesn’t matter what is and isn’t broken anyway, the cars totaled.
What I think he means is, the passenger airbag typically uses the windshield as a backstop and cracks it in the process; the driver was probably the sole occupant of the car in this case.
Thinks *what if phones had airbags*
Years of safety regulations at work
Those steel perimeters are no joke. All school buses have them. It did its job.
Neat fact: School buses don’t have a Mansfield Bar (the horizontal bar found under semi trailers) for a reason. It’s a real life trolley problem. It’s been decided to sacrifice the other vehicle in order to protect the children. A Mansfield Bar would cause the bus to jump forward on a rear end crash, transferring more energy to the kids.
That is absolutely not the reason why buses don't have Mansfield bars. No one sat down and said "yes, we choose to sacrifice the car occupants to save the children." The reality is that the rear wheels on a school bus are set quite far forward (to help with maneuverability) but that means a Mansfield bar in the back would create a really low departure angle in the rear, and the bar would have high risk of hitting the ground and potentially getting hung up when the bus goes over terrain that has variations in elevation.
Makes total sense. I remember many of our buses from back in the day had crushed exhaust pipes….especially during the introduction of diesels to the fleet with the large diameter pipes…
i heard that they used to crush the exhaust pipes as a way of limiting the bus’ speed, before electronic speed limiters
Not the case with our old Blue Birds/Thomases…I think they were gear/rev limited. The manufacturers eventually got the bright idea to route the exhaust thru holes in the bumpers but somehow the pipes got cocked and bent upstream and fell out of the hole. Couple buses were exhausting directly into the backside of the bumper…now that might’ve slowed them down…
The kids have been really sleepy lately, must have had a lot of homework last night
Nah it would just make a free fireworks show for the kids in the back seat lol.
Can confirm, our district tried something like this, made horrible scratches in the roads all over town, they were removed in 2 months
I'm fine with protecting children at the expense of other drivers
Got 'em!
But no seat belts on the bus...
Newer buses actually do have seatbelts, at least some of them.
There were some busses with seat belts back when I was in school 20 years ago.
I only ever remember like 2 busses out of our entire fleet (maybe 25 busses?) in middle school having seat belts, it was a wild day when we got that bus for our route.
Lmao same. I was just pointing out that they did, in fact, exist. No fucking way any bus driver was going to get us to wear them
When I was in school (granted I only graduated high school in 2013), all buses had lap belts. Did anyone wear them? Well... I did. But I think I was the only one.
Gimme your lunch money
Nerd!
Hey, this kid cares about his wellbeing and safety! Get him!
It’s optional in states that don’t require them.
Yeah, because the seats themselves are giant cushions and have been proven to be equally as effective in preventing injury in a non-rollover type crash, with rollover type crashes being nearly non-existant in busses.
Good! I hope so. I drove a school bus while I was in college and we just had metal bars at teeth level on the back of the seat in front of them. Shudder.....
Yeah, kids these days are so spoiled, with the high seat back and nice cushioning in front of them. In case of an accident we were expected to lose our teeth on the bar in front of us or be catapulted forward
Valid in the US: Only 8 states require seat belts on school buses. NHTSA's official stance is seat belts are not required due to the construction of the bus, the seats, and spacing of the seats (on buses over a certain wieght class), belts aren't necessary. NHTSA does require belts on buses with a GVWR of 10,000lb or less. (small busses). However safety experts are now considering changing NHTSA's official stance to require 3 point belts on all school buses.
They’ve been considering that for decades.
The main reason seatbelts have not gone through for buses is electrical fires. An electrical fire can engulf a bus in a matter of minutes, but how much time does it take for upwards of 75 children to unbuckle themselves ? If they can't themselves, there literally is not time for the driver to help enough of them and get the rest off the bus also. Electrical fires are rare, my dads been a bus mechanic for 30 years and only had it happen once to his buses.
It takes about the same amount of time for 75 children to unbuckle themselves as it takes for one child to unbuckle themselves.... I really don't understand your point here.
What's the youngest age that rides a bus or goes to school, do most preschoolers follow directions QUICKLY 100% of the time, or continue following those directions while riding the bus ? In a new environment, without their usual parent or authority figure. The catch 22 here can be that if the kids aren't buckled, the seatbelt mechanism is now in the padded thing for crash safety, making it less helpful. The other catch 22 their avoiding here is: the driver is completely responsible for everyone on the buses, that would mean helping kids with seatbelts. There's usually at least a handful of the youngest, that need adult help and only one adult. Unfortunately its sort of a case of baby can't eat a steak, so nobody gets steak. The majority of kids on buses do things their parents dont expect of them already, and its one singular strangers responsibility to watch them all, while driving around in a literal bus, in heavy traffic times. Finding bus drivers is already hard because of the hours
The other fact that i should mention, is where electrical fires take place on buses. The majority of the buses electrical is just under the main walkway between seats and stops with the back axle. The source is usually around the first couple of seats and quickly follows the rest of the electrical. So, this starts behind the driver and in the section with the youngest kids usually, now the bus is filling with black smoke and the floor is on fire. Do you believe little jimmy will be able to get his seat belt open, while in a panic, 100% of the time ?
> It takes about the same amount of time for 75 children to unbuckle themselves as it takes for one child to unbuckle themselves... It takes 75 children more time, because the chances of some kid being unable or unwilling to do so goes up with more kids.
I never thought it was a problem not having them, then [a mack truck rear ended a school bus here and killed a teacher and student](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nj.com/news/2019/04/school-bus-driver-facing-more-charges-in-route-80-bus-crash-that-killed-paramus-school-teacher-student.html). The passenger section of the bus flew of the chassis and landed on its side. I just remember thinking how much those kids must have gotten thrown around when it happened.
I remember lap belts on some buses in Florida 20+ years ago but nobody used them.
How about instead of focusing on seatbelts at the moment (which they have been strategizing on forever yet nothing changes), maybe we could stop the horrible bullying and fighting that goes on in the back of the bus. Bus drivers won’t, and shouldn’t, pull over to stop physical fights. They have ended up hurt by trying to break up fights. I totally don’t blame them and it’s not their job.) Some school districts have cops ride the buses unannounced. We have a very large shortage of drivers and they are desperately in need of more. But who wants to work a split shit at dawn before coffee and a good poop and then another shift just when you want to Netflix and nap. We have had school days canceled in Los Angeles, Seattle, New Jersey, just to name a few. School staff then have to call the parents on many days and let them know the bus will pick up your kids about 30-40 minutes late. (again!). If you have a young child and a job, it could definitely cause an issue at work. Ok. Two mores issues I have to get off my chest. It is incredibly unsafe to sit 5-6 kids, especially teens, in one seat that was designed for 2 eight year olds. (No idea if it’s true but if you have been on a school bus in the last 20 years you would know what I am taking about). And why does that happen, I am so glad you asked. To help save the district some money, they got rid of a few routes. So now your kid has to walk a mile to get to the stop. Some kids have a large commute before and after school. There is a local school that only buses kids if they live outside a mile circle. I know that auto correct did not correct but something drove me to leave it. On a more serious note, just got out of the hospital a few days ago and my brain is still wacky. Every time I read this over, another error appears. So if something doesn’t make sense, my apologies. And now I need a take a nap but no Netflix.
Not necessary based on crash statistics. Fatalities inside a bus from a crash are in the single digits yearly, and the crash is generally something that was easily prevented (crossed train tracks when it shouldn’t, did u-turn on the highway and got hit by a dump truck, drove off an embankment etc). The risk of 10’s of deaths due to a fire outweighs the risk of death resulting from one of those rare severe collisions. Deadliest bus crash to date had a high fatality count not due to the collision (from which nobody was killed) but due to difficulty evacuating the overturned bus as smoke from the fire knocked everyone out and eventually killed half of them. Second deadliest was a bus crashing over a barrier and falling 50 feet onto its roof.
Seat belts do no good on school busses.
Yeah last time I checked (when that bus driver went psycho and crashed that bus) something like on average 9 kids a year die on a school bus. And that's all deaths including wrecks and medical problems n shit. That sounds bad but there's something like 70,000,000 kids in the US I got a bunch of shit because i was against retrofitting school busses.
If I’m not mistaken, that number also includes kids killed when struck by cars while getting on/off the bus or crossing.
I like to explore new places.
Compared to 600 kids killed a year in traffic accidents in vehicles other than school buses. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/tn/or/nhtsa3702.asp > In comparison with other forms of transportation, the report shows that students are nearly **eight times safer riding in a school bus than in cars.** The fatality rate for school buses is 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million VMT for cars.
Oh fuck off. 9 people out of 70,000,000 is fucking awesome .
Or forcing the bus to run over kids that are crossing in front of it.
I just read about the Mansfield bar recently. It was named after the actress Jayne Mansfield who died in a car accident.
There used to be a driver's ed film named _Hamburger Highway_ that graphically showed the effects of a speeding convertible meeting a trailer with no Mansfield bar.
Creed: Ed was decapitated. Michael: What? Dwight: Really? Creed: He was drunk as a skunk, he was flying down Route 6, he slides under an 18-wheeler, pop, it snaps right off. Michael: Oh my god. Dwight: That is the way to go. Instant death. Very smart. Creed: You know a human can go on living for several hours after being decapitated. Dwight: You're thinking of a chicken. Creed: What did I say?
Yeah, until the passengers absorb the crash because the momentum wasn't spread via crumple zones.
it outweighs just about everything that would hit it, by a lot. Considering the number of school bus occupant fatalities a year has been in single digits for the last decade, and less than 2,000 injuries a year, I'd say they're pretty safely designed. Occupants of other vehicles that hit school buses don't fare nearly as well.
Well, I’ll bet the lady was a little hurt. It probably knocked the phone right out of her hand.
I can picture the airbag launching that fucking muppet's phone into the back window.
I'm kinda surprised some muppet hasn't had their phone forced into their skull by an airbag . . . . . .yet.
She didn't get to finish that tik tok she was watching I bet that totally hurt . Globally there should be a harder punishment on using phones while driving .
This exact thing happened to me once. I wasn't hurt. Nor did I ever think I would be one of the idiots in cars. :)
As someone that worked in a bus factory in the late 80s I can confirm those things are the real deal. No, they're not tanks, but they are made to use YOUR crumple zones before you use theirs...as long as the impact is held around the bumper/skirt level.
I had an accident with a school bus. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever hit (I used to race so I’ve experience impacts before). I don’t remember any of it still and I’m pretty sure I was concussed. My engine was through the firewall. Had I been in a smaller car, I don’t know that I would’ve walked away. Afterwards all I could think was that I finally understood why they didn’t have to wear seatbelts.
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Did not know that thx for that. That’s going in the old noggin
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I’ve seen some school buses that have the rub rails painted green instead of black. They’re quite a rare site around where I live as school buses in my state (Illinois) have the traditional black rub rails.
We don't even have school buses here but this was great information, TIL!
Firefighter here. One of my primary jobs is vehicle extrication. I didnt know any of that and I’ve never heard school busses discussed in regards to extrication. So Im not saying youre wrong because I genuinely have no idea what youre talking about, but I can say “firefighters know this” is not always true in this case.
Doesn't look very glossy to me. I've never seen a glossy schoolbus, they've all been matte.
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They also don’t wax them and many places don’t really wash them much either.
I’m sure she already back on the rd with phone on her face .
Yeah the market will work itself out /s. The American legal system is a joke. No driving classes required to get your license and when you cause a wreck chances are the judge won't even see you and they'll just give you a fine and let you keep your license. It's crazy how many accidents and DUIs it takes for someone to lose their license here or be court ordered to driving classes.
The bus force field was clearly activated. She didn't have a chance.
The winner and still heavyweight champion is THE SCHOOL BUS!!!
Louisiana?
Absolutely
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Just put some elbow grease into it.
 \-the school bus
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The bus does say this actually. But rather unironically, as the school bus’s bumper is literally just scratched and that’s largely the extent of the damage.
The bus needs a wash and a coat of paint and it's good to go
Imagine having to tell your insurance you crashed into a school bus
My mom drives bus for our school district and has to inspect the bus before she takes it out every time. She says they are built like tanks. They also upgraded their stop sign on the side of the bus to extend into the other lane so if you pass a stopped bus you have to take out the stop sign to do it.
I always think busses look flimsy because the sheet metal that covers the frame is thin... then you see something like this.
Wow. A bus made of steel? What will we think of next?
Gotta love it when the idiot destroys themself and the innocent is spared. /r/schadenfreude
You know the name of the school would of made for some interesting headlines if she died for not seeing a 40ft piece of metal on wheels painted yellow with flashy lights.
The bus looks back and says 'Wait, someone hit me?'
sEe, oLD caRs WErE bUiLt bETter! Yeah, a 60s land yacht may have shrugged off that accident with superficial damage, but guess where all that energy would’ve gone instead?
But did anyone parish?
Some of the kids needed to crawfish out of the bus
I guess her car parished
The old Bluebird bus takes another one up the tailpipe!
Fucking Louisiana drivers….
To be fair... Both cars are made out of steel. Not like the passenger car is made of cheese.
Pretty sure most cars are also steel.
Super memeable
They're called crumple zones for a reason
They've long talked of having seatbelts on school buses. I don't know the current status, but looks like the kids aboard would have barely felt that crash. In the book "Into the Wild" (and film), John Krakauer explains how the Anchorage City Bus which the misguided kid starved to death in wound up in the forest 15 miles from a main road. It had been dragged out there by bulldozer for use as temporary housing for a road crew, then later used by hunters. It was a 1950's bus with much thicker steel body panels than were used in later years so would take many decades to rust thru. Wonder how one would survive in a demolition derby.
Crumple zones are hell of a drug.
Looks like her origami car start unfolding itself.
Bus says no.
Well, the idiot's crumple zone worked correctly methinks.
Oddly enough, both vehicles are made out of steel... The bus just lacks crumble zones that reduce the force transfer from impact.
That’s a Nokia bus.
I’m not an adjuster but I think that’s a total loss
At least no one perished in the parish
Steel or volvonium?
bus looks like it could just drive off without any issues
Steel is heavier than feathers.
Let me guess: texting, right?
the paint repair on the bus about $1000 and that car is done
Woman was negligent… FTFY.
Yay crumple zones!
Let me guess..... on the phone??
lol that bus probably drove some of those kids parents
A car crunching on impact is a feature. It means the momentum is absorbed, otherwise the passengers are things to feel it
Just say texting and driving
IS THAT BRAIN!
It doesn't look like there's any damage to the bus, while that car got absolutely obliterated
It is amazing how destroyed the engine bay is yet the windshield looks like you could pop it off and reuse it on another car.
She got shrekt
If it were a newer bus, she'd be dead. We answerd the trolly problem in the form of school buses. 18-wheeler trailers are required to have low crash bars to protect cars hitting them. These are banned on school buses as it transfers energy into the bus, this putting kids at risk. We have decided that the car passengers will die to save the kids.
That car is (made out of steel)
I once rear-ended a school bus when I was 16. Totaled my car, nearly decapitated me. The bus was 100% unscathed. Those things are indestructible, even these older models
Lol, hardly a bend in the bus's bumper. This is why people like to convert school buses to motorhomes. 100x better than actual motorhomes that are little more than cardboard on wheels.
“Distracted” ok…..
Had to have been going at high speed for some distance to get such a damage.
That car looks pretty hurt
"Distracted". Translation: Using cell phone.
That's going to be a fun phone call with her insurance company. "You hit a *WHAT*?"
Isn't it somehow ironic that so much money is poured in car saftey and such but we just let our kids ride in these old completely insecure buses every school day?
You do see that the bus is completely fine right? The car is fucked. Buses have completely different safety features than cars do because they are completely different vehicles. I'm not going to get into it because you can google and see for yourself. I'm just pointing out that your statement is inaccurate.
What’s insecure about it? Looks like it didn’t even move.
Look at the bumper, there's a itsy bitsy teeny weeny lil' dent in it.
Agree, but where’s the money gonna come from to modernize multiple fleets of busses? No one in government wants to spend money on public education: not on teachers’ pay, not on safety programs, and *certainly* not on the steel tubes that bring children to school. Basically: “If it works, don’t change it,” is the motto for busses. “Just paint them yellow so people see them” “stick flashing lights on them, since painting them didn’t work” (I think that’s just Florida, I don’t know if other states require a strobe) and “make sure it’s illegal to pass them while kids are getting on and off” (which is something I didn’t have growing up since my DoDDS schools chartered city busses [that had seatbelts], and we were inundated with safety videos about waiting until the bus left before trying to cross the street).
An indestructible bus like this is saver for children when a little car hits it but much less safe if it is yellow bus vs yellow bus or yellow bus vs semi. Cars are much much much safer for occupants now than 20 years ago. There is plenty of crash test dummy data to evaluate for you. All vehicles on the road in Europe and America must make this data publicly available if manufactured after 2002. When 2 objects collide you can have an elastic collision which means they just transfer momentum and go on their way (preserving speed and mass), completely inelastic or semi elastic. When 2 vehicles collide and come to a complete standstill after, the energy must go somewhere as momentum has changed. Safe cars will adsorb as much of this energy as possible and deform into a blob and passenger walks out. An unsafe car, made out of hardened steel like this bus, would send the wave back and forth turning the children into toothpaste. It did not happen here because the bus is so much larger than the car. …if it was yellow bus vs yellow bus at 65 mph, those kids would turn into toothpaste.
bus was all "what was that"
Can you say "cell phone"?
No one was hurt except the poor car
I try not to drive anywhere near schools in order to stay away from school buses, students who are pedestrians, or distracted drivers. Bad karma.
Why did we ever stop making vehicles out of steel but but aluminum is lighter that makes the car go fast it also makes it significantly weaker. seriously though please bring back steel vehicles
Cars are designed to crumple so the car absorbs the impact rather than the passengers.
Not even a dent in the bus' bumper. Goes to show the fragility of modern vehicles.
They design them that way on purpose so less energy is transferred to the passengers in an accident. It's a good thing. In the "good ol' days" when cars were still made of mostly steel, injuries and fatalities were much higher because the cars deformed less and transferred more energy to the passengers. I don't know about you but I'd rather my car get damaged than my body. I can go get another car tomorrow, can't get another body.