Dear RTT mailing list subscribers,
Referring to Mr Paines email below, concerning the recent terrible crash in the Sierre tunnel.
After this crash, many factors in the chain of events calls for reflection - and some seems to call also for action.
One factor that really amazes, in dual meaning outstanding, is the rigid concrete wall with very sharp angle that the bus hit head-on as seen on photo (critical wall section is coloured in green) in BBC article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17362643
The presence of such an object in a tunnel really needs to be questioned.
Especially in the light of very high similarity with the Swedish coach crash in the Norwegian Måbøtunnel in 1988, where 12 children and 4 adults died as their bus hit a 1.2 m wide section of a concrete arch at the end of the long steep tunnel, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A5b%C3%B8dalen_bus_accident
Surely tunnel owners, designers and construction contractors must be able to design tunnels with smooth angles or at least rail systems that brings a horizontal ramp so a total impact stop can be prevented???
The sorrow of the people involved in the crash is shared among us all.
Johan Granlund
Borlänge Sweden
PS
A further similarity, however at lower degree, concerns the use of turned down ends as terminal of normal highway guardrails.
Such terminals may seem safe at glance, but provide a ramp effect to oncoming vehicles.
The result is often not only a take-off and flight into the hazardous object, but frequently also a flip-over so the car tits the object with its weakest side - the roof.
Numerous people have been killed after an impact to their head against objects like bridge pillars, not to mention all that has drowned after having lost their consciousness in a car upside down in even a small ditch.
This type of guardrail terminal is prohibited by law in many states, in many of them since decades.
However in many countries, or parts of countries, they are still being mounted.
In Sweden they are occasionally used even on central crash barriers between oncoming lanes with speed limits up to as much as 110 km/h.
(Not to mention all man-mounted near roadside pillars for power lines, telephone lines et c)
Please let´s join forces against man-made road side hazards.
There are numerous roadside hazards created by nature itself, and with ubiquitous lack of road funding they may be a matter for many future generations to deal with too.
But the man-made hazards...?
Should it be possible to deal with 90 - 95 % of them within less than a decade and in many cases also without much need for extra funding?
In many cases, like in the tunnel crashes mentioned above, the largest challenge seems to be realizing the risks rather than to deal with them.
-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: Technical, operational and economic aspects of road freight transportation [mailto:[log in to unmask]] För Michael Paine
Skickat: den 14 mars 2012 11:50
Till: [log in to unmask]
Ämne: Bus safety belts
Dear RTT subscribers
The bus crash in Switzerland raises concerns about occupant protection in coaches and the adequacy of ECE R80. Australia was confronted with this problem in 1989 following two horrific bus crashes. My colleague, Michael Griffiths <[log in to unmask]> and I prepared a paper on this topic for the 2005 ESV conference:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0017-O.pdf
More information is at
http://users.tpg.com.au/mpaine/busbelt.html
Please contact us if you would like any information about the Australian experiences.
Our condolences to the people affected by this tragedy.
Michael Paine
Sydney Australia
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