Plane, Train or Bus?? Safety??

[missleadfoot]

This is a thought that has gone through my mind since the day I started flying and I hope someone can enlighten me.

I have been flying a long time and I am proud of the safety standards I have been taught and maintain. However, I do fly a hell of a lot as a passenger on planes but also on public buses and trains. On aeroplanes we must insist that pax remain seated with their seatbelts fastened while taxiing until the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the seatbelt sign has been switched off. We all know this is for the welfare and safety of our pax and ourselves. Then why is it that when you board a bus or train they never wait till the pax are seated before they "take off"? I'm sure many of you have been thrown into the laps of elderly people, lost your footing and experienced a lot more jolting and "turbulance" while standing on a bus or train when the driver is stopping and starting, using a bit more lead and using the brake too severely. I have had more dangerous times on a bus or train than in my years of flying yet they continue to put us through this hell till we finally grab a seat at the back and secure ourselves after 3 or more stops when seats become available. Prime example is Sydney and anyone from there will know what I'm talking about. Law suits could cripple the public transport industry.

I completely understand and agree to the reasons we have our rules on board but it just seems ludicrous that other industries get away with situations that are extremely more potentially dangerous and more frequent than ours. I have been involved in two bus crashes, yes thats 2 more plane incidents than I would like to be involved in but hey, these are frequent, ours are not, shouldn't the transport department be looking at this??

I am proud that we have to yell to pax to sit down but every accident has the potential to kill many people, including buses and trains. I guess with us we have the man power to enforce these rules, they dont. Still, it's a dangerous situation and I am amazed no one has sued, yet!!

Let me know your thoughts.......

[qfmike737]

Hi missleadfoot

The trains...well where do I start??

They dont have seatbelts!!! The train is extremely hard on your body...the sudden jolts that go side to side it is constant and does do alot of damage. In the galley you can litterally be cooking...there could be a chef onboard!!! imagine having to slice tomatoes on the train...we have SOOOO many accidents!!!

I know what your saying missleadfoot. I wish it could be safer!!!

[crewmeal]

Nice thread - try the transport systems in Istanbul then you will realise that the donkey is the safest way to travel. Buses don't depart until they are full and people are gasping for air, I have seen surbuban trains travelling at speed with their sliding doors open!! People 'walking the plank' getting on and off ferries with hundreds of jelly fish waiting to have you.

Pakistan well thats another story!!!!

[missleadfoot]

Thanks for your replies, I wont be travelling in Turkey for a while unless my airline sends me there.

I could do with more feedback here??

[TightSlot]

There are of course, no Flight Attendants, or their equivalent on other modes of public transport; Therefore there is no one to police compliance with the rules, even if such rules existed. If legislation were enacated for buses and trains, the costs would quickly become prohibitive: Both would immediately be able to carry less passengers and would also have to hire numerous safety staff.

All transport is about managing risk, in other words, there are risks inherent in all methods of transport and society does its' best to reduce the risk to a level that society considers acceptable: That level of risk is rarely, if ever, zero - it is simply the level that society regards as tolerable, in exchange for a cost level that is acceptable. We all know that self driving is statistically significantly more dangerous than many other forms of transport and yet we continue to do so having made a combined mental cost/benefit analysis and risk assesment. In many cases, drivers are happy enough with this personal calculation to feel that they can drive while drunk, or without being strapped in or while making a call on a mobile handset with one hand.

For the record, my personal risk assesment includes the following points:

• I try to avoid travel on underground trains due to congestion and the problems with escape in a fire
• I try and get a room on a low floor in hotels on nightstops
• I drive (probably worse than I think) sober, strapped in and in the slow lane

All of these mean that I'm now a registered "Old Fart" but I plan to try and live longer this way - but then, the best laid plans....



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