Do you feel nervous about coach trips??

[girlfriend44]

Do you let your children go on school coach trips?
Do you go on coach trips?
They seem to be very notorious for crashing.
Another school coach trip ended in disaster yesterday?
Sadly one child died.
Does it make you nervous, and what is it about school minibuses and coach trips?😥
AIBU?

Notorious for crashing? Isn’t it actually quite rare?
What happened was a terrible tragic accident but I think buses and coaches are probably safer than car travel?

‘Notorious for crashing’?
No, they’re not, and yes I do allow my children on school trips.

I was having this conversation with DH last week. I took a coach to school for all of my childhood (lived rurally) and there was probably one incident a term of the coach crashing or someone being taken very ill or the coach just sliding off the road into a hedge/ditch. That feeling of being slung across a coach stays with me! I NEVER take coaches now unless abroad and no other option.

Define 'notorious for crashing'?

Cars certainly crash more than coaches.

Yes, I do allow my children to go on coach trips.

It's such awful, tragic news but it's rare.

I love coach trips.

How many peoplw die in car accidents? Children still travel in cars. Or accidents in the home?

Yes i let them as life cant stop because parents come up with reasons for children not to do things

Statistically they are very safe, coach trips happen every day and many, many kids travel by coach or bus to school.

what has happened is an accident, they are awful and unpredictable and traumatic.

it is unbelievably sad, I cannot imagine what the children are going through. However, I wouldn’t stop my children going on trips, having adventures and living. Everyone has to do their own risk assessments.

They all have seatbelts now.

Coaches do seem to overturn in general quite a bit.

They are only 'notorious for crashing' because when a coach crashes more people are injured (similarly aeroplanes). Also school children again are far more 'newsworthy'.

It’s interesting how our experiences naturally colour our opinions. I was the same as you, coach to school throughout my life, and yet I can’t think of a single incident (on our coach or the 10 or so others that brought those who lived rurally into school) in all those years or the years after till my youngest DSibling left school so a span of almost 20years.

The fact that a fatal coach crash makes national news and everyone is talking about it suggests it is a rare event. People are far more likely to be killed in car crashes, do you let your children travel by car?

What happened was desperately sad but it won't stop me from allowing my children to go on school trips, no.

There was a kid at my primary school that wasn’t allowed on the coach with everyone else and that combined with some other insanely overprotective behaviour from his mum meant the poor kid had basically no friends by the end of school because he couldn’t participate in all the usual social stuff. Don’t be that parent. Especially as it’s not logical- coach crashes make the headlines whilst car crashes, pedestrian incidents, accidents in the home are more common but might only get a footnote in the local press.

At my DD’s school they’re bussed somewhere most days- sports grounds, swimming lessons, to do an activity at the boys school round the corner etc. I don’t think we could object to it if we tried, would probably need to find another school.

No mode of transport is safe including being a pedestrian so unless you want to live your life as a recluse you have to take the risk.

Can you link to the statistics?

They report on bus/coach crashes because they are unusual events.

Mine caught the school bus everyday for 2 years between the ages of 4-6 (DD2) and 6-8 (DD1). In all that time, there was one problem... they were caught in the traffic behind a car crash (no buses involved) for 90mins before the bus was escorted off the autobahn as a priority.

Do your children ever travel by car?

Fatal coach or bus crashes are very rare in this country aren’t they? I recall one near Chester a couple/few years ago but can’t think of others particularly. It’s extremely rare for them to overturn… no more likely than a train or plane crash id have thought and typically small numbers of passengers are seriously injured.

in terms of things which are common, male teenagers seem to be quite frequently involved in fatal high speed car crashes, there have been two near me recently. Doesn’t stop anyone allowing their teens to learn to drive/access to a vehicle!

What a foul tasteless thread to start full of factual inaccuracies after yesterday's tragedy

Yes I do allow it, I travelled by coach to school and back every day for 5 years and it never crashed (as did many others). What happened yesterday was absolutely tragic but very rare and not at all common.

Yes I allow my daughter to go on coaches with her school. Very rare that happens.

Really? I took school transport as did my daughter, and I’ve taught in secondary schools fed by them for 35 years. I don’t recall a single crash or going off the road incident. Delays due to breakdowns - frequent. Accidents? Unheard of. You seem to have has an atypically poor experience.

Again, define ‘quite a bit’. I don’t recall many incidents.

It's pure scaremongering that's likely to make some already anxious parents even more anxious.

The OP hasn't backed up a single thing she's said.

I was travel sick as a child so didn't enjoy them. Not an issue about safety and just prefer train travelling.

If you applied bus and coach medical requirements for car licences I guess a lot of people would be unable to have one.