This was written back in the heady days of having an office job where nobody knew what I was supposed to be doing or if whatever I was supposed to be getting done was getting done. Names have been removed or edited to make it read better and to some degree protect my anonymity.
Dear Sir,
I am a frequent traveller on Dublin bus and Iarnrod Eireann and after a considerable number of trips I have a few questions that I would greatly appreciate your help with.
These questions have come about after a conversation borne of noticing that the hammer for use in emergencies on the bottom deck of my bus this morning was in fact missing. This was shortly followed by the realisation that on many of your buses these hammers have gone missing, either by theft or misadventure.
My first question is then: Is the hammer required by law and if so why are they not replaced?
This line of conversation led to the breaking of glass. I am curious to know what type of glass is used in Dublin bus buses? In particular, is it shatter resistant? If so can such a small hammer (when present) actually break through in the event of an emergency? If the glass is not shatter
resistant, then surely this poses a greater threat to passenger safety, in the form of blinding and cutting than the statistically unlikely event of an overturned bus. I would of course appreciate as detailed an answer as possible so if you need to refer this email to someone more closely
connected with health&safety or construction I will understand.
As minds are frequently wont to do, this conversation continued along a morbid path of terrible scenarios. Chief among these was what would necessitate escape through the back window, we concluded (perhaps incorrectly, and if you have any more reasonable explanations please advise)
that it would occur in an overturn situation. In regards to this I am curious to know what is the maximum angle that a bus can achieve before overturn. For instance if a bus were to hit a pavement or a small embankment and be raised off the ground on one side, what is the maximum angle before it would topple? Is this angle the same on each side of a bus, or is the weight spread unevenly?
I notice of course that there are several types of bus on the road, from the older (seemingly more rickety) bus to modern versions with ramp access for wheelchairs, extra rack space for buses to and from Heuston station, several variations on the theme of central doors and many different types of safety railing. If you could apply the above questions to each bus type I would be very much obliged.
In the vein of accidents and so on, I must ask about the fuel tank. Firstly are buses run on diesel or petrol? Secondly how many litres does each bus type carry on average? Third, where in the bus is the fuel tank located?
I do hope this is not too much trouble and I realise I may have to wait some time for you to collate this information.
Yours sincerely,
Conan
Champion of the people
The response, took the wind out of my sails
Conan,
Hammers are a requirement on some buses and are there for assistance on others. Hammers are regularly taken from buses and are constantly being replaced. The hammer is very effective at breaking the glass in an emergency.
The type of glass used in the windows of our buses is toughened safety glass. As required by regulation this does not break into large pieces or shards which would be likely to cause serious injury.
The rear window escape would generally be used in the event of a bus overturning or where both sides of the bus were blocked off in an accident.
A double deck vehicle must tilt to a minimum angle of 28 degrees before toppling. Obviously the maximum is dependent on a number of items which affect the height of the centre of gravity e.g. loading etc. Therefore it is only possible to specify the minimum angle.
Our vehicles run on diesel and a typical double deck carries between 250 and 350 litres. Fuel tanks are generally located on the off-side (drivers side)
Zaldar
Administration Officer
Public Affairs Department
Ph 7033160
Feel free to call or contact this guy with any queries you may have about Dublin bus.
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