Bus Blind Spots

At a visit to the First Bus Depot on King Street we met with to bus drivers, one who is an experienced bus driving instructor. After briefing them with the project they have one extremely important piece of information which you only realise in the Driver’s seat, so we found out for ourselves.
Blind spots are a major issue for a bus driver. Think of the blind spots while driving a car, but with a look over your shoulder they can be checked. However in a bus this is imposable. Looking over your shoulder you are met with a panel of the bus, there is no glass window. This means there is a huge blind spot out both sides of the bus. Bellow is an image showing the scale of the blind spot.


Another major blind spot in busses are directly in front of the bus. With a gap that would easily fit a child. The blind spot is increased even more in a coach. Further still at the rear of busses, bus drivers are completely none the wiser what is going on because they can’t see anything.



As accidents are occurring when children are running out in front and behind busses could something be done to stop this, using the spaces in the blind spots and stopping children from walking and running there?

Bad Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows what the average bus stop looks like in rural areas. Most bus stops are on busy roads where the speed limit can reach 60-70mph. This image was taken on a 40mph stretch of road. As you can see there are no points to cross the road and nothing to channel the flow of passengers as they leave the bus. It is also a very busy road with large commercial vehicles using the road. There is nothing to prevent traffic from speeding past the bus while it is stopped, and also there are also driveways situated near the bus stop.

Good Rural Bus Stop

The above image shows one of the safer rural bus stops. I feel it’s safer because of it features. It has an island in the middle of the road, which will help the passengers cross the road after departing the bus. It also will prevent traffic from driving past the bus when it is stopped, cars tend to speed up to get past busses, and this is sometimes the cause of accidents. Finally the island slows down the traffic, preventing traffic from driving at excessive speeds around bus stops.

Rural Bus Stops

Rural bus stops are very different to the bus stops I looked at in the city centre. They come in many different forms, from just having a small bus stop sign, to having an island in the middle of the road to allow easy crossing. Below are just a handful of the different types of bus stops in more rural areas.

No crossing, next to junction, lorries on road.
40mph zone, large vehicles on road, no crossing.
Island for crossing, multiple driveways close by.
Bus stop painted on ground, 40mph zone, no crossing available.

Bus Stopping - Union Street

Looking at the brief a major point of the project is getting on and off the bus. Staying with Union Street for the moment this video shows how bus shelters on Union Street work as a barrier between the road and the passengers when they are queuing. If you look at where the bus stops, the bus and the shelter merge into one object, stopping passengers form wandering onto the road. It also stops passengers from walking out in front of the bus after departing the bus.



This works very well in a city context, where there are many busses and the stops are used frequently. It only works though if the bus drives all use the same method. When the street becomes busy this is sometimes very hard, busses stopping at the other side of the shelter, or a little further along the street.

Busses on Union Street

To begin my research I went on a day trip in and around Aberdeen on the bus, documenting my findings using still images and video. I started on the busiest street in Aberdeen, knowing that there are hundreds of busses driving through Union Street every day I thought it would be a good place to start.

My initial thoughts on Union Street were the sheer busyness of the street. With bus lanes most of the way down the street, busses are a very predominant figure on Street. Busses stopping, pulling out to get buy other busses, sometimes it can become very congested. Here are some images that show how busy the Street is.

The image bellow shows how busses can take up a large amount of the road. For pedestrians trying to cross the roads and for cyclists this can be very dangerous.






From these images it shows how many busses there are on the roads especially in the centre. There are lanes especially for busses on union street but as you can see from the images, they busses don’t just use bus lanes

BUS STOP!

“Parents of Robyn, 15, help launch hard-hitting campaign to warn pupils of risks.”

The parents of Robyn who was tragically killed in after stepping off a bus have released a hard hitting bus safety campaign in conjunction with Talisman Energy. The campaign BUS STOP! Has been designed to help highlight the potential risks when getting on and off school transport, and the dangers of distraction in this situation. BUS STOP will become an integral part of the campaigns approach to road safety.


http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1091886
http://www.1second1life.co.uk/

The Press and Journal – 31/12/08

“Safety calls after 19 die and 1,000 are injured in six years”

“Shocking toll of bus accidents revealed”

“Robyn Oldham, 14, died just yards from her home at Birkenhills, near Turriff, in September. She was hit by a car as she crossed the A947 Banff to Aberdeen road.”

“Just over two weeks later, 12-year-old Fraserburgh Academy pupil Alexander Milne was involved in an accident with a car after he stepped off a school bus at Lonmay.”

The statistics confirm the idea behind this project, but what is it that needs done? Does public transport need improving? Is it the bus drivers? Or could it be car drivers not paying any attention to stopped busses and the passengers in and around the busses? Or could it be people in general are just careless when using busses or crossing the roads?

There are countless theories behind the reasons for injuries and even deaths while in the vicinity of busses.

Reader’s comments on his article

‘It’s not the speed that is the problem - it's the LACK of SAFE driving by BUS DRIVERS. Walk down Union Street and see how many buses drive through amber and red lights. How many enter hatched junctions when their exit is not clear. Aberdeen needs bus drivers who drive responsibly.’

‘I used to get the Stagecoach bus into town for my daily commute and was astounded and shocked at some of the appalling driving standards by some of their drivers. One driver alone I made 3 separate complaints about as he was a danger to his passengers and other road users. I also discovered other passengers had made complaints about the same driver. I left my job in town simply because I found the travelling on buses too stressful. At times I would arrive home and at work a complete nervous wreck. Stagecoach never really investigated my complaints thoroughly and a few weeks ago I noticed the same driver travelling at his usual excessive speeds. If something serious happens with this driver, I do hope Stagecoach still have my complaints on file and a thorough investigation is made.’

‘In defence of us sensible bus drivers can I just say Wendy and John that not all of us are like that and we do sit rigorous driving exams both theory and practical and are not just handed out licences!! Our biggest problem are the companies themselves who give us such tight timetables to abide by that it nearly impossible to keep to if there’s excess traffic or problems. It's no fun dodging ignorant pedestrians and unreasonable car/white van drivers!! Have a thought for us decent ones sometimes, were not all bad!!!’

Child Safety Protection System for use with Busses

Background

For a high number of students and school children nationwide, the school day begins and ends with a trip on the bus. Unfortunately, each year many children are injured and several are killed in bus incidents. In fact, a child is three times more likely to be killed while boarding or getting off the bus than while the vehicle is moving.
In order to prevent these accidents different national safety councils encourage parents to teach their children some important rules for getting on and off the school bus. Furthermore, the government and city councils have upgraded a high number of difference roadside bus stops close to school areas, built bus shelters, covered walkways and roads improvements to increase bus safety.

Despite the above, and as recent tragedies prove, injuries and deaths still occur.

Project Aim

The aim of the project is to assist with the development of a child and general protection system for use on the busses to prevent accidents when children are getting on/off or are in the vicinity off the bus. The approach should be ‘inclusive’ in principle considering protecting the elderly, the infirmed, and those with impaired vision or hearing, whilst also helping the distracted pedestrian.