If a coach lands on its side in a crash, passengers can only get out with great effort. Accident researchers make some suggestions for faster evacuation in an emergency.
Münster – Although serious coach accidents are comparatively rare, according to researchers, a crashed coach can quickly become a trap.
A study by the Insurers Accident Research (UDV) presented on Tuesday uses accident simulations and technical analyzes to show the major deficits in the evacuation options for overturned buses – and with which, in many cases, simple suggestions for new vehicles the experts want to remedy.
The scenario that the researchers roughly simulate with test subjects in the test setup is eerie: a fully occupied touring coach has come off the lane and overturned, the doors are locked. It could catch fire, and thick smoke could make it even more difficult to orientate yourself in the already out of whack interior. There could be injuries, people who panic. “If a bus comes off the lane, it makes a lot of noise,” says UDV research director Siegfried Brockmann.
Enormous effective forces
None of this is available in the simulator on the crash test site – and yet the test subjects are faced with considerable problems: “These are enormous forces at work,” says Angelika Laumann, 51, describing the feeling that arises when the The bus is first tilted a little, later by a full 90 degrees on its side – and much more slowly than in a real crash. “Oppressive and frightening,” says Bianca Ruhoff, 32, after having struggled through the skylight to the outside. Many complain how difficult it was to loosen the tightened lap belt when your own weight is on the belt buckle.
Further series of tests, technical analyzes and surveys paint a very similar picture: It has been shown that roof hatches or side windows can often only be used with “great gymnastics qualities”, says accident researcher Brockmann. Fragments if the emergency hammer has to be used make it difficult to get out. In addition, there are great heights that have to be overcome when getting out. In reality, rear windows are often blocked by bike racks or ski boxes. That is why the experts suggest installing front windows that can be removed from the inside in an emergency. “This is not rocket science: a small pressure hose along the adhesive seam is enough to blast the pane out without splintering,” says Brockmann. In the case of a series construction, this is a small investment for a large increase in safety.
Problem case interior materials
According to the UDV, three-point seat belts, as in the car, instead of the previously common lap belts, provide an additional level of safety. Light strips to the nearest emergency exits could help to regain orientation. The accident researchers also repeat an older requirement: The fire protection requirements for the interior materials must finally improve “in order to gain time that we simply need for the evacuation,” says Brockmann.
Basically, he criticizes the fact that the coach is the only means of mass transport for which the legislature does not prescribe maximum evacuation times. While a passenger aircraft would not be approved if it could not be cleared within 90 seconds, there is no such requirement for coaches. Without such a regulation, the bus companies would put convenience before safety, Brockmann believes. He thinks three minutes is realistic for evacuating an upright bus through the door. One problem: the corridors are so narrow that corpulent people can often only move sideways. Slidable seats or handles on the headrests should not reduce additional space here.
Tour buses are considered to be a comparatively safe means of transport; However, if you consider the accident risk per kilometer driven, the accident researchers say it is around four times higher than that of a car. In all types of accidents and in relation to all types of buses, around 6,000 bus passengers are injured in Germany every year, around 500 of them seriously. Deaths are rare and the number varies greatly from year to year. “It’s about the rare but serious cases and about the possibilities of improving the evacuation without great difficulty,” says Brockmann. dpa
