passenger safety on double deckers

nickj_2

my daughter has just started college in cambridge and catches aa double decker bus for the journey which takes about 1/2 an hour .
as we are the last pick up point the bus is usually full before the kids from my village have to get on . the kids have no option but to either stand , or sit on the floor or stairs .
this wouldn't be a problem if the journey was just around cambridge , the bus wouldn't be moving more than 30mph , but most of the final leg of the journey is on the m11 and a14,
i would have thought that this represents a breech of health and safety rules , am i wrong ?

newfoundglory

I wouldn't have thought so. But there might be health/safety issues if the bus is carrying significantly more passengers than the maximum it was designed for, or if passengers are standing on the upper deck.

TeaCake

There should be a plate the legal limits for passengers visible with 'XX sitting and XX standing' somewhere on the bottom floor of the bus, normally around the drivers cab. My school bus was always jam packed and some buses during rush hour in London must be over legal limits at times.

eschaton

nickj wrote: »

my daughter has just started college in cambridge and catches aa double decker bus for the journey which takes about 1/2 an hour .
as we are the last pick up point the bus is usually full before the kids from my village have to get on . the kids have no option but to either stand , or sit on the floor or stairs .
this wouldn't be a problem if the journey was just around cambridge , the bus wouldn't be moving more than 30mph , but most of the final leg of the journey is on the m11 and a14,
i would have thought that this represents a breech of health and safety rules , am i wrong ?

Be careful - if it is a breach, your daughter might find herself without a bus to get to college.

Sometimes sticking your nose in isn't for the best.

George_Michael

eschaton wrote: »

Be careful - if it is a breach, your daughter might find herself without a bus to get to college.

Sometimes sticking your nose in isn't for the best.

And at other times, sticking your nose in might be far better than having to visit someone in hospital when you know that if you had said something it might have avoided it.

thegirlintheattic

I used to get two buses to school (TfL buses) and they were always packed full, sometimes when they were too full they drove past stops and you had to wait for a less full one.

Drivers should tell customers not to stand on upper deck or stairs but other than that not much they can do, apart from driving past the stop and leaving your daughter waiting.

vikingaero

The key here is how PSV drivers are trained. Most PSV drivers are on the whole pretty good and taught observation and anticipation.

Wh05apk

TeaCake wrote: »

There should be a plate the legal limits for passengers visible with 'XX sitting and XX standing' somewhere on the bottom flour of the bus, normally around the drivers cab. My school bus was always jam packed and some buses during rush hour in London must be over legal limits at times.

I have a feeling that the limits quoted are for adults so if it says !4 standing" that equates to something like 21 "children"

I know some of the park and ride buses I have used have been like the Japanese commuter trains where you literally are squeezed in, with the doors closing behind you, what would have happened in an accident is any bodies guess, I suppose if you are hemmed in so tight, it might actuallu be safer as you won't move so far?

jamespir

we stood up on buses(if they was busy) never did us any harm

Paradigm

eschaton wrote: »

Be careful - if it is a breach, your daughter might find herself without a bus to get to college.

Sometimes sticking your nose in isn't for the best.

Absolutely, if it's a problem she can always catch the next bus?

MarkyMarkD

Seating limits allow 1.5 children per adult (except for buses with seat belts where obviously you can't share), but standing ones don't because they are related to the number of grab points. Also for children it may be impossible for them to reach some grab points due to height which isn't great.

A recent tendency has been for buses solely used for school runs to have smaller seats fitted in a "5 across" format instead of "4 across", so they all get a real seat rather than having to squidge 3 onto a seat meant for 2.