Open doors on moving buses

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33112, 30 December 1972, Page 12

Open doors on moving buses

Sir, —I have often won-; dered why the Transport; Board insists on having both;; front and rear doors on their! buses closed while travelling.:' One can appreciate the neces-| j sity for having the rear door: closed for safety’s sake but ' surely the safety device: could be disconnected from 1 the front one, particularly 1

during the hot weather, for' obvious reasons. Auckland buses travel with their front doors open at most times and I have not heard of anyone : being thrown out in spite of the fact that the majority of b the northern drivers are rougher than ours. Also, sev-l ;eral drivers to whom I have! spoken all say that it is a I waste of time reporting the registration numbers of cars which are parked on bus stops, particularly in suburban shopping areas. Why’ —Yours, etc.. JUST CURIOUS. December 14, 1972. [Mr J. F. Fardell, general manager of the Christchurch Transport Board, replies: “The opening of doors on moving buses is not a good practice and, to our know-' ledge, certain people have! fallen out of moving buses' where the doors have been left open. In any case, the: opening of the front doors' would not help the air-flow' into the bus because this 1 area is at a point of negative j pressure and the air flows' from the rear of the bus through the front door. It is also a requirement of the Transport Regulations that the doors are closed when the buses are moving into and out of the stopping places. Throughout the world today there is a growing tendency for doors to be fitted under the control of the driver and kept closed whilst the bus is moving. In the interests of safety of the passengers in Christchurch the bus doors are interlocked: with the accelerator pedal and the gears, so that the bus cannot move unless the doors! are closed. In regard to the statement about the waste of time reporting registration numbers of cars parked on bus stops, this is not understood, but it would appear that the writer of this letter is an employee of the board and, for his information.' whenever car numbers are! reported to us action is taken ■ on them with the appropri-) ate authorities.”]