Which is safer?

[SB1500]

Buses are generally protected by being Slow...and very heavy, there's very little out there that can stop a bus suddenly so the force is shed more gently than a car accident.

I find it bizarre that lorries are limited to 56mph (good!) but busses / coaches can fly merrily as fast as they want. Both equally dangerous when out of control to everything around them except tens of people onboard the one that can speed. How have the EU of all people not stamped down on that one decades ago?!

Camera wise I like the combination as parking sensors tend to go off a lot for no good reason. Usually as most systems pick up 2-3 feet either side so there's pretty much no way of reversing into a bay without them crying wolf at least once.

And sensors miss bollards often too… camera I’ve found to be more useful. Of course more is better I suppose.

 

[SB1500]

l don't particularly think accidentally including some crossovers for example would invalidate the Study. Given it was mainly on the impact of vehicle height and shape on pedestrian survival in this case if it walks like a duck and Quacks like duck...it can be considered a duck.

I’ve concluded there aren’t any real SUVs anymore. A week with the Grandland convinced me all modern crossovers and thing marketed as SUVs in the last decade are what we called ‘people carriers’ the decade before. They can dress it up however they want. It’s working to sell them!

Last point valid but these are the sort of studies that tend to lead to things like changes in type approval rules. It might be you end up with maximum bonnet height rules or to get Ncap stars your front grille now needs to be a whoopi cushion..

we’ll end up with ugly ducklings like the 2-Series and B-Class, please god no…

 

[StevenRB45]

The irony is that NCAP test for pedestrian impacts and so any data needed for their study could have just been a literature review of NCAP results

Not really given Ncap fire a fake head at the bonnet and measure the results and also a fake leg at the front bumper.

They do some geometry based assessment as well if memory serves but it's not the same as real world data.

I find it bizarre that lorries are limited to 56mph (good!) but busses / coaches can fly merrily as fast as they want. Both equally dangerous when out of control to everything around them except tens of people onboard the one that can speed. How have the EU of all people not stamped down on that one decades ago?!


And sensors miss bollards often too… camera I’ve found to be more useful. Of course more is better I suppose.

It's illegal to build a bus that can do more than 56mph if memory serves, and also although the highway code states coaches can do 70mph and use lane 3 of the motorway again if memory serves they are limited to 62 now so only very old coaches can achieve 70mph.

That and even older buses physics was an effective speed limiter, they are not powerful or torquey as a Truck, weigh more unladen and have terrible aero.

The buses we had in 80s and 90s were a Leyland Olympian like everywhere. But due to local conditions rather than having a gutless Gardner or Leyland diesel, a power sapping hydracyclic gearbox and town gear ratios they were somewhat spicier. So we got a Cummins diesel with about 40% more power, a full auto gearbox and also the longer coach axle ratios.

They are quietly legendary among people who know about these things and over-represented in preservation because they are held to be one of the fastest double deckers ever built.

They top out at just over 60.

As for Cameras and Bollards...the rear of my Toyota bears what looks like a repaired bollard scar. Until I owned it and had sensors fitted it was camera only so I assume given cameras or sensors neither is perfect if the driver isn't doing their job. Both makes it less likely one or other systems limits cause you a problem.

 

[The Panda Nut]

True. I've never had an accident, so i don't really need any of them.

This begs the question, is there a way of making an older Fiat car safer in an actual crash by adding extra equipment?

It is also begs the question, if everything else on my cars need maintenance how do i know that the airbags are going to work if i needed them to?

a) No
b) You wont. Airbags dont always deploy for a variety of reasons. Originally you were supposed to replace them at 10 years old but Ive never met anyone who did. I like air bags as they may make a difference in the worst case scenario. Ive had one deploy when I was T boned off the road and hit an earth bank where there was a cutting into a farm field. The car stopped dead. I was uninjured and my first thought sitting in the thick smoke was is this what its like being dead.LOL As my sunroof ws open it quickly cleared. The car was tetering on two wheels I thought it was ging toflip over onto its roof. It was a company car which I was considering buying so I saved some money.

 

[AnthonyH]

a) No
b) You wont. Airbags dont always deploy for a variety of reasons. Originally you were supposed to replace them at 10 years old but Ive never met anyone who did. I like air bags as they may make a difference in the worst case scenario. Ive had one deploy when I was T boned off the road and hit an earth bank where there was a cutting into a farm field. The car stopped dead. I was uninjured and my first thought sitting in the thick smoke was is this what its like being dead.LOL As my sunroof ws open it quickly cleared. The car was tetering on two wheels I thought it was ging toflip over onto its roof. It was a company car which I was considering buying so I saved some money.

Sounds like you had a big accident, can't have been much fun...

I suppose the answer to making any car safer, is to buy a safer car. I should drive my 500X more and my Puntos less, i might do that.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Sounds like you had a big accident, can't have been much fun...

I suppose the answer to making any car safer, is to buy a safer car. I should drive my 500X more and my Puntos less, i might do that.

Its only safer if you hit something pretty hard. Visit the NCAP site and see if they still have the pics and videos for both. Its interesting. If you tangle with a Range Rover or and HGV it wont make a deal of difference to the outcome I suspect. My little bump didnt spoil my day at all as no injuries occurred, the other party admitted fault and I got a new car out of it. Poor old Astra was bent like a banana and twisted too!

I always use the best tyres I can find irrespective of cost. I throw them out at 3.5mm and also fit the best brake pads and discs. Any wear or suggestions by my garage about steering or suspension are follwoed up straight away and dampers are usually changed before necessary. Other than getting someone ele to drive so I sit in the back theres not much I can do. In 1,8 million miles I have had afew scrapes when a teenager, then a cuple of moirro cvlashes on narrow roads (BMWs) This bump and a trip into a ditch on ice. The temperature that moring was 7C. What I should have remembered is that it could have been cold earlier. It had been. My record is pretty good all in all, but I am aware that age is impacting significantly and I need to take much more care. Noop has the city brake option but its never been needed. .....yet! The other safety improvements are all obvious to us all. Clean windows inside and out, clean lights, tyre pressures correct tracking and speed control. Easy to say but Im human like everyone else and as I get older Im slower to react. Im very aware that my experience is becoming a liability as it may cover my increasing incompetence.

 

[AnthonyH]

There is an inch of snow on the ground here, which won't clear when i'm on the road tomorrow, the motorways will be slow and clogged, hopefully no crashes or lane closures. I'll take it nice and easy

 

[AnthonyH]

There is an inch of snow on the ground here, which won't clear when i'm on the road tomorrow, the motorways will be slow and clogged, hopefully no crashes or lane closures. I'll take it nice and easy

There's nothing like being up early to drive for 90 minutes, in the snow, to an appointment that then got cancelled.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

There's nothing like being up early to drive for 90 minutes, in the snow, to an appointment that then got cancelled.

Oh there is.

How about having a shiny EV and feeling very smug indeed about its scheduled preheating, but failing to turn it back on properly after the Xmas holidays. Minus effing six.