2 hr bus ride

[CarySky]

Not sure where I should be posting this.. but here goes. My MIL's company has a big BBQ every summer. She invited myself and my DDs to go this year. It would be a 2 hour bus ride from here to PA. I don't think the bus would be able to accommodate our seats and, thus, the girls would be riding unrestrained. I'm assuming we'd be riding in charter buses. :confused: I'd LOVE to go, but I'm concerned about my DDs traveling unrestrained for any ride, much less for such a long one. WWYD? My girls are 20 and 8 mths old and are both RF. TIA!!

[rochelle]

you might want to put your 8 mth old in a baby carrier facing you.

the longest bus ride I took when my boys were 2 and 3 was a 5hr x 2 ride on a grayline bus from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon. I had my 3 yr old in a hiking kind of baby carrier so that he was strapped to me. my 2yr old was strapped to my hubby. there was no seatbelts on that bus (not that I can remember) so bringing up the car seats was not an option.

enjoy the trip.

[Pixels]

Unfortunately, if there aren't seatbelts on the bus, there is no real way to keep your kids safe. Big busses are exempted from having seatbelts on them because they use a form of passive restraint called compartmentalization. The high seat backs break the bus into smaler compartments. An adult or larger child will fly forward, into the back of the seat in front. The forces are spread out over a large area of the body, protecting the passenger. Compartmentalization doesn't work well for kids under about 40 pounds.

Using an infant carrier to strap your child to your chest just means that in a crash, the child would be smashed by your body. Do you have an infant seat for the car? When I rode on a bus with DD, I was able to sort of wedge her seat in. Ideal? No. Better than nothing? Yes. Have your older daughter sit on the seat next to you, so at least she won't be crushed by your body.

[CarySky]

We don't have an infant seat (we sold it along with the rest of our orbit system). The only other option is to have DH take the day off from work and follow the bus in our car. I'm thinking this is the way to go. Thanks for your responses. Happy mother's day!

[Jeanum]

I attended a CEU lecture on school bus safety standards which addressed this and it's a common misconception that FMVSS compartmentalization standards apply to non-school buses. :o Compartmentalization is part of school bus safety standards only, and is not a mandated design for city/transit buses, tour buses, or shuttle buses.

[mommycat]

I attended a CEU lecture on school bus safety standards which addressed this and it's a common misconception that FMVSS compartmentalization standards apply to non-school buses. :o Compartmentalization is part of school bus safety standards only, and is not a mandated design for city/transit buses, tour buses, or shuttle buses.

Would this mean that it likely is not "functioning" in other types of buses, or just that it is not designed/tested/enforced in these scenarios? I would imagine that some of that same principle may still apply in any larger bus-type vehicle. Maybe the backs of the seats may not be as padded, but would there be anything else that needs to be addressed for compartmentalization to work? Do the seatbacks have to be specially reinforced?

This is not just a random interest. We will be travelling in Europe this fall and there is a possibility that we will be on buses without seatbelts at least some of the time unless I kick up a fuss ahead of time. The driving there is pretty scary even on the "quiet" country roads we will be on, so I am wondering just how bad of an idea that would really be and how much I want to insist on always having a car available in which we can install our carseats...

[Jeanum]

It pretty much means non-school buses are all over the map in terms of vehicle seat height, spacing between the seats, the amount of seat padding or lack thereof, and the orientation of the seating (side facing seats, etc.), all of which are strictly regulated with compartmentalization in mind for school buses. Plus there's the potential of standing passengers on city/transit buses using poles/hand holds instead of actually riding in the bus seats.

[Melodiya99]

I've been thinking about this lately too. While still not sure if I'm going to take my girls on a bus, it's a little reassuring that buses simply do not stop quickly or easily unless they run into a brick wall or another bus. Someone with more physics can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if a bus hits a car, it's the car that's getting smashed, not the bus...the bus will keep moving through/pushing the car until the bus stops.

[Pixels]

I've been thinking about this lately too. While still not sure if I'm going to take my girls on a bus, it's a little reassuring that buses simply do not stop quickly or easily unless they run into a brick wall or another bus. Someone with more physics can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if a bus hits a car, it's the car that's getting smashed, not the bus...the bus will keep moving through/pushing the car until the bus stops.

No, you've got it about right. Unfortunately for the car, fortunately for the bus.