Another Bus question...

[canmom]

I didn't want to hijack the other thread so... How safe do you think it would be to be riding a city bus with young children (babies and toddlers)?

[snowbird25ca]

Buses in general tend to be a pretty safe mode of transportation. Collisions do happen in buses too, but there's not much you can do in terms of restraining older kids. When Jonas was a baby and had an infant seat I used it and a stroller. I felt like the infant seat would at least provide a little protection to him.. Really though, it comes down to comfort level and hoping a collision doesn't happen. I've had my kids on the city bus... not for probably well over 6 months now, but I've done it. I don't *like* it, but sometimes it's the mode of transport you have to use. :o

[hipmaman]

And buses go slow, has better crumple zone/reinforced frame, compartmentalisation is there (so use certain seating positions to ensure compartmentalisation), etc.

[tcottawa]

The accident rate is much lower with buses than with cars, if you look at the statistics.

They travel slower speeds (on average), the drivers are trained, rollovers are rare. I feel perfectly safe taking the bus with my kids (which is good since I just learned to drive a couple of years ago!) and take the bus instead of the car whenever I can because of the lessened environmental impact, and because I try to limit the time my kids have to spend in the car. On a bus you get to see more of the city, and, especially in a city that's not particularly diverse, it might be the only chance you get to mix with people of different income levels, classes and ethnicities...and actually have conversations with them!

[QuassEE]

The accident rate is much lower with buses than with cars, if you look at the statistics.

Quarter for the quarter jar.


Here's some light reading:

Bus safety:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/tp/tp14006/pdf/tp14006e.pdf
Crash statistics:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/tp/tp2436/rs200702/menu.htm

So it looks like you're far more likely to be killed BY a bus than ON one.. :)

-Nicole.

[canmom]

Quarter for the quarter jar.

:p LOL

Thanks for all the information. I was slightly weirded out a few months back when my grandmother decided to take my DS on the city bus one day when she was watching him. She recently mentioned taking him again and DD... just wasn't sure how safe it was.

[Judi]

Or, the firefighter way of explaining things. The most lug nuts, wins.

[mommycat]

Or, the firefighter way of explaining things. The most lug nuts, wins.
Yup. The bigger you are the less you feel the impact, in general. The odds of two buses colliding is probably slim, so you would typically have the bus colliding with something much smaller and therefore more insignificant.

Not that this has a lot of credibility as far as proving any point, but just for fun, here's an anecdote:
My mom was in a bus crash when she was a kid (rural road and I don't know the speeds). She says she was standing up holding onto the seat in front of her when the bus failed to take a turn and ran into a HOUSE (and houses there are built with stone, not wood). She says all the people sitting, ended up on the floor in front of their seats, while she went from standing to sitting. It doesn't really sound like anyone sustained any injuries to speak of.

[tcottawa]

Quarter for the quarter jar.


Ack! Glad Allport isn't reading this...:whistle:

[sparkyd]

OK, I've got a bad cold and haven't been sleeping well so maybe I'm just slow this morning... what is the "quarter in the quarter jar" thing? I feel like I'm missing an inside joke... which I probably am. :)

Is it because there are no "accidents"?

[QuassEE]

Is it because there are no "accidents"?

:thumbsup:

Corny, I know.