Why are busses significantly safer than cars when they have far fewer safety features (eg airbags, seatbelt etc)?
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A large part is how big strong and sturdy a bus is.
2nd part is, because its a job, and a large vehichle with cameras and multiple people on it, you have to drive well and dont get away with driving like an asshole… which is why at least 50% of bad crashes happen !
The danger comes from slamming into something and stopping rapidly. That transfers forces to your body greater that it can handle and injuries occur.
This is why cars have crumple zones, to extend that slowdown period to as long as possible.
Buses have the advantage that they’re large and heavy, so even if they are in an impact, it takes a lot to slow them down, so they’ll likely not transfer much of that impact energy into the passengers. That and they’re generally driven on set routes, fairly slowly by drivers whose literal job it is to drive safely.
1. They are very large and heavy so a collision with a small car doesn’t crush them, or even completely stop them.
2. They are professionally driven.
The danger from accidents mostly comes in the form of rapid deceleration.
Many of the safety features in cars are to help you decelerate as softly as possible. The front of the car may come to an extremely sudden stop, but the part you are in just keeps going slightly slower for a bit as the front crumples and the seat-belt and air bag further helps you from decelerating to harshly.
Everything in the car is designed to soak up as much kinetic energy as possible in the event of a crash so that as little as possible ends up acting on your body and especially the important parts of it.
With a bus the problem is slightly different. A bus tends to be much heavier. If a buss hits your average obstacle it doesn’t come to sudden stop it tend to go through most obstacles while only being slightly slowed down.
In order for the bus to end up in the sort of accident that would make seatbelts or airbags really useful it would need to hit something extremely durable at full speed, like a bridge support on a highway.
It is not a common problem.
If you google for bus accidents that have had multiple injuries and fatalities it rarely ends up being the sort of accident where a bus drove into some barrier at high speed. It usually ends up being either a bus catching fire on the side of the road or rolling down a cliff when driving in some mountainous country.
Buses used for public transportation that mostly drive in cities tend to be fairly safe from the sort of crash that would make seatbelts and airbags a good idea.
1. Slow acceleration and deceleration means a driver can’t drive recklessly.
2. A bus driver knows that if they fuck up they lose their livelihood. That tends to focus the mind.
If a bus was subjected to the same crash tests a car is, it would fail miserably. (IE: A 50mph crash into an immovable barrier)
A bus is not safer than a car, it’s just driven in ways that make it less likely to be in an accident. That is to say, it’s driven slowly and more carefully.
Due to its size, a bus is less likely to tip over on its top, nor get severely crushed by a larger vehicle. This is the only advantage it has over a car. During an impact in a bus, occupants are much more likely to receive serious injuries due to the lack or restraints (Air bags and seatbelts). Whereas the same impact in a car would likely only result in bruises and small scrapes.
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