Spanish Rail Disaster.

[Just-Jude]

Should all trains be fitted with seatbelts and emergency escape chutes?

[sandyRoe]

Seat belts would be a good idea. But in the crash in Santiago some of the carriages seem to have been ripped apart.

[Frank97]

Can't see an escape chute being much use if the carriage is on it's side.

[emmie]

i suspect that belts may hinder people getting out if there is a fire...
if they get jammed, you could well burn to death. where would you put the emergency chutes, there is little enough space on trains as it is. Many of the people were seriously hurt, unable to get to a chute, or stuck under debris, bodies, just like the London tube train bombings.

[kylesmum]

I can't see why seatbelts can't be fitted :/

They are compulsary on buses now, not that anyone pays any heed to them. So if you buckle up you stand more chance of getting killed by someone who flies through the air and knocks your head with their knee than the accident.

Should be compulsary to wear them not just have them installed, that's a cop out IMO.

[Old_Geezer]

Automatic speed reduction through curves might have more benefit. Belts and braces sort of thing.

[Old_Geezer]

i may not use busses often but I've yet to travel on one with a seat belt. I guess they aren't being retrofitted ?

[Prudie]

So how many fatalities on this train would have survived if they were wearing a seat belt?

[emmie]

when you say compulsory on buses, do you mean coaches, because no bus i have travelled on either in London or outside has seat belts

[kylesmum]

I can't say Prudie but i'm sure if everyone was strapped in the job of the Emergency Services might not have been so gruesome.

I wont elaborate on that point..

[kylesmum]

I'm thinking I may have travelled on buses which also double up as school buses. I'll try and get a link.

[emmie]

given the nature of the crash, more may have died, the train seems to have caught fire, how would anyone get a belt off and out of the train if they are seriously hurt, and if a fire rages you have no chance. Same as on planes, you have to unclip them pretty quick and get off the plane if it ditches in the sea, and they don;t seem to stay afloat for long

[emmie]

in any crash, most of the seating and the innards of the vehicle won't stand up to the impact, if you have a look at pictures of the London tube bombings, there was seating, debris, bodies everywhere. Even if they had belts on it wouldn't have saved them. because you would be moving with the seating, everything gets crumpled, like a concertina. The Spanish train hit the wall at such force i am amazed anyone was left alive. Extraordinary pictures showing how fast they were travelling, a total nightmare.

[kylesmum]

Link as promised re buses/coaches and seatbelts :

http://www.schoolbus.org.uk/index.asp?pageid=228244

emmie, I guess we'll never know in this instance but it is a fact that seatbelts have saved countless lives on the road at high speed.

A sprinkler system activated on impact, would that help? Perhaps something more sophisticated, again activated on impact or something along the lines of smoke alarms, when there is smoke detected (no smoke without fire). Sad situation.

[emmie]

some of the same points as i have raised...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-6516,00.html

[Prudie]

I agree emmie, the CCTV footage as it hit the wall were sickening, it was going so fast. There are minimal risks in all modes of travel. It's pot luck whether a seat belt would have saved or hindered you. I certainly have never had a reason to belt up on a train.

[emmie]

ok so fire breaks out, sprinklers come on, where is the water stored, this is probably not cost effective either, seeing how many rail crashes actually occur, certainly across Europe. not to mention if there is a small fire on board or someone burns the toast in the buffet car, i am not kidding, that could mean the sprinklers will automatically deploy. In that link one chap says what i think, that if you are strapped into a seat and the train crashes and turns on its side, which some carriages seem to do, you will be locked into it, the belt could buckle and jam, and fire starts, and if no sprinklers you still won't stand a chance.

[kylesmum]

I'm sure we all sing from the song sheet when trying to make sense of such loss and what could be done to prevent such loss of lives.

A few comments were also made about people standing on trains, either on a busy commuting train or in the buffet car.

Interesting link and comments, I hope some kind of solution is found.

I would wear a seat belt on a train just as a point of interest, absolutely.

[emmie]

one of the drivers is refusing to speak to the police, i haven't seen the update as yet, but from this morning news, the judge will be talking with him... The way is had been reported, is the older driver gave the controls to the younger man, no idea if that is true or not, but it was horrendous watching it unfold.

[emmie]

i wouldn't, not out of principle, but i honestly think they would be more of a hindrance.

[EDDIE51]

Escape chutes on a train , where are you going to escape to , straight into the path of a train coming the other direction ? Escape chutes would be worse than useless in any train crash have ever heard of. They are on aircraft because the main hazard is fire due to the large amount of fuel carried , trains are mainly electric or a few diesel fire hazard far less .