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Is there such a thing as being too safe? Jeff Kaufman writes that buses are much safer than cars, by about a factor of 67 but buses are not very popular and one of the main reasons is that if you look at situations where people who can afford private transit take mass transit instead, speed is the main factor. According to Kauffman, we should look at ways to make buses faster so more people will ride them, even if this means making them somewhat more dangerous. Kauffman presents some ideas, roughly in order from "we should definitely do this" to "this is crazy, but it would probably still reduce deaths overall when you take into account that more people would ride the bus": Suggestions include not to require buses to stop and open their doors at railroad crossings, allow the driver to start while someone is still at the front paying, allow buses to drive 25mph on the shoulder of the highway in traffic jams where the main lanes are averaging below 10mph, and leave (city) bus doors open, allowing people to get on and off any time at their own risk. "If we made buses more dangerous by the same percentage that motorcycles are more dangerous than cars," concludes Kauffman, "they would still be more than twice as safe as cars."
(Score: 3, Funny) by Rich on Saturday March 19 2016, @06:09PM
Their buses are the main method of transport on the island, they're ubiquitious, cheap, and fast. Especially when there was head-on traffic, I perceived fast as in "James Bond car chase down the edges of some mediterranean cliff"-fast. I couldn't really understand how it works, but in the evening, all the buses are back in the central station in Valetta, undamaged. It probably has something to do with an elaborate protection device that usually has the size of a small refrigerator, is mounted above the head of the daredevil driver and consists of a meticulously modeled Jesus-child and mother Mary in an appropriate environment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 19 2016, @09:46PM
Bay Area buses got less safe last year...after the Google car ran into one.