28 dead, 
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17362643
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17363474
Looks like a monumental failure of road planners by not putting barriers to divert out of control vehicles away from a head on collision with the wall. 
Yes absolutely devastating for all involved including the families, and also yes it does look like bad planning as it looks like he’s hit that green bit of wall head on and came to a sudden halt.
How many kids not wearing seat belts? When I used to drive coaches, you may as well have been talking to yourself in asking them to buckle up
by the look of that coach, i wouldn’t have thought there would have been any deaths, maybe just a few cuts, and bruises.
this is the second one i’ve heard about lately.
terrible news.
limeyphil:
by the look of that coach, i wouldn’t have thought there would have been any deaths, maybe just a few cuts, and bruises.
this is the second one i’ve heard about lately.
terrible news.
Yes but how many would of had seat belts on, you know what kids are like on these trips they get high as a kite.
limeyphil:
by the look of that coach, i wouldn’t have thought there would have been any deaths, maybe just a few cuts, and bruises.
this is the second one i’ve heard about lately.
terrible news.
Your faith in the strength of coaches surprises me Phil.
Denis. I posted another thread on the Euro section, can you merge the two please
This really is terrible. I cannot imagine what it must be like as a parent getting that phonecall.
My heart goes out to all involved.
I have seen quite a few coaches barreling past me through the roadworks on the M1 in the middle of the night and often thought all it takes is a momentary loss of concentration (like a sneeze) and bang.
So many young lives wasted.
Truly truly tragic and horrific.
I thought this at time of UK coach crash in France but I think half the problem is attitudes of passengers to seatbelts. When I drove coaches you get people who wouldn’t dream of not wearing it in a car thinking its ok not to in a coach. That and the fact it’s time coach seats had proper over the shoulder seat belts. The trips with kids are especially bad with teachers and kids thinking its ok to wander about as they please. But that coach is a mess and some deaths in an accident of that type were tragically inevitable.
This has got to be one of Europes worst crashes. Certainly one of worst involving a single vehicle.
This HAS to bring the speed of these thing down surely? I have been saying for years that they should be at truck speeds.
I don’t think 10kmh would have made much difference when it comes to crashing head on into a wall.
switchlogic:
I don’t think 10kmh would have made much difference when it comes to crashing head on into a wall.
I know that, but a little may have saved some lives. Not all fatal crashes involve hitting walls head on in fairness.
My thoughts go out to all the families who are effected by this. Having grown up in belgium my first thoughts were i hope it wasnt one of our old school busses… Its not but Rip to all the kids and condolences to their familys. thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne … crash.html
bigvern1:
This HAS to bring the speed of these thing down surely? I have been saying for years that they should be at truck speeds.
No I disagree. If that’s the case then all passenger transport such as trains should be slowed down in the name of safety.
bigvern1:
switchlogic:
I don’t think 10kmh would have made much difference when it comes to crashing head on into a wall.I know that, but a little may have saved some lives. Not all fatal crashes involve hitting walls head on in fairness.
And in fairness not many are involved in fatal accidents. If anything instead of saying coaches should be slowed down I think it’d be perfectly safe to have trucks sped up. Remember coaches used to hurtle down the outside lane at 70. We can’t keep slowing everything down in the name of safety because before long we’ll stop
daveb0789:
bigvern1:
This HAS to bring the speed of these thing down surely? I have been saying for years that they should be at truck speeds.No I disagree. If that’s the case then all passenger transport such as trains should be slowed down in the name of safety.
Trains don’t run into walls much. But I think having children on board needs a different approach.
switchlogic:
bigvern1:
switchlogic:
I don’t think 10kmh would have made much difference when it comes to crashing head on into a wall.I know that, but a little may have saved some lives. Not all fatal crashes involve hitting walls head on in fairness.
And in fairness not many are involved in fatal accidents. If anything instead of saying coaches should be slowed down I think it’d be perfectly safe to have trucks sped up. Remember coaches used to hurtle down the outside lane at 70. We can’t keep slowing everything down in the name of safety because before long we’ll stop
Not a real possibility though is it? Hitting things at lower speeds causes less damage. S’all I’m saying!
Yeah your right but how slow do we go? Walking speed so no one is ever killed. Everything goes slow enough as it is. We can’t keep slowing down.
bigvern1:
I think having children on board needs a different approach.
Why?
Better tunnel design and some barriers to deflect the vehicle away from a head on would have been a start. Similar thing to the Diana crash, when a vehicle hits solid concrete at right angles theres only one winner, seat belts or no seat belts.
I think in this day in age we should have intelligent cruise control with radar linked to the steering which steers the vehicle in a motorway lane keeping it a safe distance from the one in front. Would be useful on those boring overnight motorway trips.
As for trains hitting walls - no they don’t but they can hit drivers who fall asleep and drive off the motorway and onto the rails as at Great Heck 