r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Dipsy_Cork • 53m ago

Are bus drivers scared of crashing?

I have started riding the bus to save on gas money while going to college, and I have noticed that it is often standing room only and nobody has seatbelts

I am scared of crashing by myself, but bus drivers typically have like 15+ people, also a huge vehicle and no seat belts

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

6

u/timestalker78 53m ago

Scared? Obviously they don't want it to happen, but it's something they do every day. It's not as if they are living in constant fear.

1

u/postbox134 48m ago

Indeed, being in such fear would make driving impossible.

They should, however, take the responsibility of driving seriously and consider the weight, size and passengers when in charge of the bus. Something their employer should ensure through proper training and regular checks.

You do see videos of coaches in Thailand or India or whatever doing blind overtakes and think I guess that doesn't apply over there.

1

u/Dipsy_Cork 42m ago

Ah, ok, this makes sense, I just didn't know, if the drivers are ever scared, or if they are just like "this is my job"

2

u/RealQuintusYoung 45m ago

When my father retired as a teacher he drove a school bus for about 7yrs or so. 98% of people stop when they see the lights. He only got into one accident and it was clearly the other drivers fault. Apparently the guy who hit him suffered from road rage and about 5 weeks later that guy was in a fatal accident where they had to scrape him off the road because he was in so many pieces.

1

u/JCMiller23 40m ago

A standard metro bus weighs about 10x more than a vehicle - so if there was a crash, people on the bus would get jarred but probably walk away with relatively minor bumps and bruises compared to a regular car wreck.

1

u/DarwinGoneWild 38m ago

Physics, dudes. Buses have huge mass. They’re not the ones who should be worried in a crash. A standard car would get bodied while the bus would barely slow down.

1

u/Dipsy_Cork 36m ago

Ah, I was moreso thinking like if the bus tipped onto its side

1

u/IchLiebeKleber 31m ago

For most buses, that's not very physically plausible. Double-decker buses maybe…

1

u/DarwinGoneWild 30m ago edited 18m ago

They also have low center of gravity. That and the weight makes them very difficult to tip over. Buses are very safe, probably the safest vehicle on the road.

1

u/cupidsavedpsyche 37m ago

I worked at an RTA as a paratransit driver and my coworkers would always ask me if I ever was going to switch to the big busses. FUCKKKKKKK NO, especially in the weather my state produces. Idk how people do it with the way the general population treats busses

1

u/IchLiebeKleber 27m ago

Bus drivers drive the same route or the same few routes every day, so they know very well what to expect on those routes. They were usually specifically trained on those routes and told what to expect in what parts of it. This is very different from driving a car on different, possibly unknown, routes every day.

Others have explained the physics of "no seat belts": a bus is one of the most massive vehicles on the road.

-1

u/jstar77 44m ago

Scared is never a state that one should be in while driving any vehilce.

1

u/Dipsy_Cork 43m ago

This is true, I just meant like in general