Many children killed in another ski trip coach crash
Discussion
Belgian coach crashes in to tunnel wall in Switzerland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17362643
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17362643
mgtony said:
I was going to ask how a coach hits a wall head-on in a tunnel, then saw this:
Would it have taken a genius to think perhaps this wall should have been built at an angle to deflect any vehicle in an accident and minimise the impact?
Very tragic.
Looks like amazingly bad design. And that's not just being wise in hindsight.Would it have taken a genius to think perhaps this wall should have been built at an angle to deflect any vehicle in an accident and minimise the impact?
Very tragic.
rsv gone! said:
mgtony said:
I was going to ask how a coach hits a wall head-on in a tunnel, then saw this:
Would it have taken a genius to think perhaps this wall should have been built at an angle to deflect any vehicle in an accident and minimise the impact?
Very tragic.
Looks like amazingly bad design. And that's not just being wise in hindsight.Would it have taken a genius to think perhaps this wall should have been built at an angle to deflect any vehicle in an accident and minimise the impact?
Very tragic.
Wouldn't even need to be a lapse of concentration, let alone falling asleep at the wheel really. The driver could even have been a momentary dazzle fromt he tunnel lights - perhaps through a dirty windscreen - and you're straight into that impenetrable wall.
Changedmyname said:
I wonder if it's the long hours for the drivers?
Phew! It doesn't do to have imagination when reading about such horror.Further, from the pictures, the coach seems fairly intact. That makes one wonder if seat belts were being worn.
Given the reported circumstances the suspicion has to be something like the driver falling asleep or a heart attack, fit, something like that.
Imagine sorting through the coach, checking to see whicg were dead. All those kids.
Absolutely terrible.
Tunnel emergency exits like that are quite common in European mountain tunnels.
I don't know whether they're usually protected with armco or the like normally, I suspect not.
I guess the corner that took the impact isn't really visible in that picture, so it's hard to know if there's a lot of damage there, but 100KM/H - 0 in a few metres is going to be a lot of deceleration.
Horrible for all involved and my heart goes out to those who've lost children or other relatives.
M
I don't know whether they're usually protected with armco or the like normally, I suspect not.
I guess the corner that took the impact isn't really visible in that picture, so it's hard to know if there's a lot of damage there, but 100KM/H - 0 in a few metres is going to be a lot of deceleration.
Horrible for all involved and my heart goes out to those who've lost children or other relatives.
M
Derek Smith said:
Phew! It doesn't do to have imagination when reading about such horror.
Further, from the pictures, the coach seems fairly intact. That makes one wonder if seat belts were being worn.
Given the reported circumstances the suspicion has to be something like the driver falling asleep or a heart attack, fit, something like that.
Imagine sorting through the coach, checking to see whicg were dead. All those kids.
Absolutely terrible.
Belgian TV news have just shown footage of the coach being towed out of the tunnel. The front and RH side of the coach took the impact and are destroyed - the RH side of the coach is wrecked for about half the length. They are also showing footage from a Swiss press conference saying that the coach was narly new and fitted with seatbelts.Further, from the pictures, the coach seems fairly intact. That makes one wonder if seat belts were being worn.
Given the reported circumstances the suspicion has to be something like the driver falling asleep or a heart attack, fit, something like that.
Imagine sorting through the coach, checking to see whicg were dead. All those kids.
Absolutely terrible.
Terrible tragedy.
ETA - slow typing - pics above.
24 kids dead now.
Tunnels in Europe are quite different to the tunnels we have in the UK. They are much more complicated than we have in the UK, often with many different exits and entries feeding in and leading off, at times on different sides of the same carriageway. Much can feel counter intuitive a lot of the time and can be downright disconcerting at others. The longer ones can also be monotonous and hypnotic.
Tunnels in Europe are quite different to the tunnels we have in the UK. They are much more complicated than we have in the UK, often with many different exits and entries feeding in and leading off, at times on different sides of the same carriageway. Much can feel counter intuitive a lot of the time and can be downright disconcerting at others. The longer ones can also be monotonous and hypnotic.
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