Dublin bus seat belts

D0NNELLY

Haven't been on a bus in a while.. Have they got seat belts now? If not, anyone know why not? Also is there anchor points for buggies?

Cheers,
D.

StreetLight

City buses are exempt from a requirement to have seatbelts.

BrianG23

It would encourage drug users to 'shoot up', according to cutbacks.ie

Glebee

It would also stop you slipping into the person sitting next to you after you've haves good few pints on a night out.

Peregrinus

D0NNELLY wrote: »

Haven't been on a bus in a while.. Have they got seat belts now? If not, anyone know why not? Also is there anchor points for buggies?

Cheers,
D.

A bus has much more momentum than a car so that, in the event of a collision between a bus and a car, the bus passengers experience only a fraction of the decelaration/impact that the car passengers experience. So the need for seat belts is much less.

That's not to say there's no need. If a bus drives into a tree or other completely unyielding object at speed, that's bad for the passengers. But that kind of accident is extremely rare. Plus, fitting seat belts in buses adds cost, they probably wouldn't be much used, and to the extent the are used they would tend to slow down passenger movements and so impede the normal operation of the bus.

In general, balancing cost, efficiency and safety results in a judgment that seat belts are not necessary. This isn't unique to Dublin Bus; I don't think I've been on an urban bus service anywhere in the world which offered passenger seat belts.

As for buggy restraints, some wheelchair accessible buses come with wheelchair restraint points, and these can usually be availed of by buggies of the appropriate design. The design criteria, though, focus on wheelchairs and adult mobility aids; the extent to which they are apt for buggies and prams is a secondary consideration. I don't know if Dublin bus has any buses so equipped. The general advice for buggies is that the child should be removed and the buggy folded up and treated as baggage.

endacl

Any word on parachutes for passengers on the top deck?

uck51js9zml2yt

Deedsie wrote: »

If they are upgrading anything upgrade the leapcard machines so that they can be a "load location" also they are painfully slow.

I often thought for buses with two doors, Dublin bus could implement a policy where people could get on at the drivers door and exit at the centre door to improve stop times. Small efficiency but it might help a little.

From what I can see, they went from 2 door to 1 door busses as the fleet got replaced.

seamus

I expect there would be a significant maintenance overhead fitting belts on city busses. With constant inflow and outflow of people, the belts are liable to become damaged and useless very quickly. So they'd need to be regularly inspected and replaced.

magicbastarder

if they mandated seatbelts for buses it would be very odd to let that sit beside the fact that you're allowed stand on the lower deck.

Victor

D0NNELLY wrote: »

Haven't been on a bus in a while.. Have they got seat belts now? If not, anyone know why not? Also is there anchor points for buggies?

Travelling on a bus is 10+ times safer than travelling in a car.

When was the last time you heard of a collision resulting in a passenger death on a city bus in Ireland?

Vic_08

Victor wrote: »

Travelling on a bus is 10+ times safer than travelling in a car.

When was the last time you heard of a collision resulting in a passenger death on a city bus in Ireland?

Was someone killed in the Dublin bus that was overturned by a scumbag grabbing the wheel in the late 80's?

The Kentstown crash aside I cannot recall any fatalities among bus or coach passengers in a very long time.

Minibuses are a different story, there have been a few nasty ones over the years.

Victor

Year Killed Serious Injury Minor Injury Total Note
1998 6 13 125 144
1999 1 14 123 138
2000 - 18 135 153
2001 - 11 131 142
2002 1 2 57 60
2003 - 2 62 64
2004 - 6 73 79
2005 6 8 55 69 Kentstown bus crash - 5 killed in coach
2006 3 7 96 106 Clara bus crash
2007 1 3 81 85
2008 - 1 84 85
2009 1 7 90 98
2010 1 6 67 74
2011 - 3 55 58
2012 1 - 45 46
2013 - - 43 43
Total 21 101 1,322 1,444
Average 1.3 6.3 82.6 90.3

Source: RSA, NRA Road Collision Facts - Table 18

I found this: http://edepositireland.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/41165/Non-collision%20Injuries%20In%20Urban%20Buses.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

I'm not sure if the Garda reports non-collision injuries.

Vic_08 wrote: »

Was someone killed in the Dublin bus that was overturned by a scumbag grabbing the wheel in the late 80's?

I was a teenager at the time, so can't comment.

fh041205

Peregrinus wrote: »

Plus, fitting seat belts in buses adds cost, they probably wouldn't be much used.

I get the matthews coach from Drogheda frequently and this is certainly the case. Usually, I'm the only one using a seat belt. You can hear the clicks whenever someone unhooks one.

A bit mad in my eyes but people obviously don't feel too pushed about it. You'd think on a fast moving vehicle like that it would be even more in demand than on a Dublin Bus but there you go.

Carawaystick

fh041205 wrote: »

A bit mad in my eyes but people obviously don't feel too pushed about it. You'd think on a fast moving vehicle like that it would be even more in demand than on a Dublin Bus but there you go.

How will seatbelts help pasengers standing?
There's no seatbelts on TGV and generally you don't have to wear a seatbelt on a plane travelling at 90% the speed of sound.

MGWR

Carawaystick wrote: »

How will seatbelts help pasengers standing?
There's no seatbelts on TGV and generally you don't have to wear a seatbelt on a plane travelling at 90% the speed of sound.

Airlines always require wearing of the seatbelt at takeoff and landing (including climbing to cruising altitude and descending for approach to airport), and for a number of years they have insisted on wearing the seatbelt while seated (versus moving about the cabin) during cruising.

fh041205

Carawaystick wrote: »

How will seatbelts help pasengers standing?
There's no seatbelts on TGV and generally you don't have to wear a seatbelt on a plane travelling at 90% the speed of sound.

I was referring to the matthews coach service who don't allow standing. Valid point for Dublin Bus services though.

LuckyLloyd

Hey Victor,

Is that table accurate:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/five-dead-in-worst-tragedy-in-the-history-of-dublin-bus-26218114.html

Victor

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Hey Victor,

Is that table accurate:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/five-dead-in-worst-tragedy-in-the-history-of-dublin-bus-26218114.html

The deceased in that case were pedestrians.

LuckyLloyd

Victor wrote: »

The deceased in that case were pedestrians.

Ah yes, got you.

macroman

DB vehicle are exempt from seat belts and are permitted to carry standing passengers due to speed restriction of 65km/h on the buses. Other PSV (coaches, school buses etc.) are required to have seat belts fitted, all ex-DB vehicles sold for further use have to have seats reinforced/anchored and seat belts fitted before passing through the PSV office.

No anchor points for buggys as you are required to apply the brake and remain with the buggy at all times.

Victor

macroman wrote: »

DB vehicle are exempt from seat belts and are permitted to carry standing passengers due to speed restriction of 65km/h on the buses. Other PSV (coaches, school buses etc.) are required to have seat belts fitted, all ex-DB vehicles sold for further use have to have seats reinforced/anchored and seat belts fitted before passing through the PSV office.

This has nothing to do with it being a Dublin Bus owned vehicle. It is due to it being designed as an urban bus and being limited to 65km/h.

Seat belts may be fitted by other operators so they can operate at higher speeds.