Quickly becomes a trap

When a bus accident can be dangerous

Bus travel is safe in and of itself - but if certain circumstances arise, it can quickly become life-threatening.

(Bild: APA/CHRISTOPHER ECKL)

In principle, traveling by bus is considered to be much less dangerous than driving a car - but if there is an accident involving a bus, it can quickly become dramatic. Like this week in Germany: four people died in two serious accidents and dozens of people were injured, some of them seriously.

A survey by "Allianz auf Schiene" on serious accidents involving cars, buses and trains between 2012 and 2021 showed that buses are the safest means of transport after trains: while 0.03 people are killed in accidents involving trains per billion passenger kilometers, the figure is 0.13 for buses and 1.65 for cars. The risk of injury in bus accidents is 4.7 times lower than in car accidents - but compared to train travel, it is around 35 times higher on a bus. One reason for this is that coaches can quickly become a life-threatening trap in the event of an accident.