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Original poster

toddler - nursery trip on the bus - help!

40 replies

sazm · 26/03/2009 13:25

hi all,
am debating if im being sensible or over protective here and need some other peoples views plz..

my ds (4yo) got a letter home saying they are going on a nursery trip,they will be travelling by bus,the journey is about 20 mins each way on the main road,

i just feel that after searching for ages for the 'safest' car seat for him,would it be siilly of me to then stick him on a bus with no restraint???
i could drive him there/pick him up but i dont want him to feel left out if all his friends are going on the bus??

honest views most welcome lol

sarahxx

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CMOTdibbler · 26/03/2009 13:27

When Ds has been on a nursery trip we were asked to leave our car seats with them that morning so they used those

purepurple · 26/03/2009 13:28

are you serious?

millions of people all over the world use public transport every day

going on a bus will be fun for him and a perfectly normal way to travel

health and safety gone mad..............

Original poster
sazm · 26/03/2009 13:29

i would be happy with that,
but theres no seatbelts on the bus,

when i discussed it with the nursery teacher she looked at me like i was daft!! so obviously im the only parent who has commented??

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CMOTdibbler · 26/03/2009 13:32

Oh, a bus, not a coach or minibus. If a normal bus, then fine with no car seat.

earlgreytea · 26/03/2009 13:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

smallorange · 26/03/2009 13:34

My 4.5 year-old goes on the bus all the time, going to the shops, zoo etc. She loves it!

At nursery they tend to either hire them a massive coach or take them in black taxis.

I think people will be a bit if you insist on driving him there and back.

Original poster
sazm · 26/03/2009 13:40

no i would never go on a bus with him,i have a car so have no need to.
it just seems stupid to have his car seat sitting there empty,and him sitting on a bus with nothing at all?

OP posts:
smallorange · 26/03/2009 13:47

Well.. I'd say it's not great to be singled out and have mummy drive you somewhere while all his mates go on the bus together.

And going on the bus is a pretty normal thing to do, for most people...

What do you think might happen to him?

purepurple · 26/03/2009 13:47

my dd has a friend that had never been on a bus at 12

how strange

Original poster
sazm · 26/03/2009 13:49

i just think he is obv much safer in his carseat,
as i said i wouldnt mind if he was on a minibus in his carseat, that i would be happy with,
but if there is an accident he is sitting unrestrained on a bus and his carseat is in my car empty,

OP posts:
ThursdayNext · 26/03/2009 13:55

Buses are much safer than cars though, so accidents much less likely
I'm guessing he would be safer in a bus with no carseat than in a car with a carseat
You've got me interested, I'm going to do some Googling.

purepurple · 26/03/2009 13:56

i know you are worried but you have to let them experience life you know
you can't live your life thinking "what if.."

btw, just wait until he gets his first car, then you will understand the term anxious

DS is 19 and is out there somewhere on the roads.... scary

edam · 26/03/2009 13:59

I think you are being a little precious first-born about this. Buses are completely different matter to cars. Bus crashes are vanishingly rare, and when they do happen it's at very low speed. Never heard of anyone being seriously hurt or killed.

Mind you, if you live in Battersea, I'd be slightly more nervous - when I was in that neck of the woods the drivers were maniacs and there were a couple of crashes (no-one was hurt, though).

edam · 26/03/2009 14:00

(no-one on the bus, I think the stupid person who attacked one of the buses late at night might have ended up in hospital. But nursery trip won't be when the drunks are out in force...)

ThursdayNext · 26/03/2009 14:05

Bus and coach travel have the lowest fatality rates for road travel
0.6 per 100 million passenger hours for buses and coaches
9.8 per 100 million passenger hours for cars

I guess buses are big, slow and driven by experienced drivers

Quite apart from buses being fun, it's acually safer.

Original poster
sazm · 26/03/2009 14:07

i know i cant wrap him in cottonwool forever lol,
i am very strict on car safety as i drive a lot and know how many idiots there are,lol,

i wouldnt let him go in someone elses car unless he had his seat and i had strapped him in,and i just kinda feel the same about this,i dont want him to miss his trip either tho,
its just if something did happen i would never forgive myself for not just dropping him off myself..

OP posts:
shonaspurtle · 26/03/2009 14:08

He's safer in a bus than he is strapped into the seat in your car. I know that feels counter intuitive but it is true.

ThursdayNext · 26/03/2009 14:09

No, no, he's safer on the bus than with you driving him

Original poster
sazm · 26/03/2009 14:10

watch this...

video

OP posts:
edam · 26/03/2009 14:12

It's an odd psychological phenomenon that we judge risk according to the amount of control we have over the situation. So flying feels scary because you aren't in charge, even though it's actually far less dangerous than driving.

When you are in your car, you feel in control, even though you are actually at the mercy of whoever else happens to be on the roads at any precise moment.

edam · 26/03/2009 14:13

that's America and it admits no-one was really hurt.

shonaspurtle · 26/03/2009 14:13

I wish someone could come up with a leaflet about quantifying risk for parents (sazm, I'm not getting at you - it would be good for me too).

There was a good article in, I think, the New Scientist a while back about how rubbish human beings are at quantifying actual risk so we frequently put ourselves in riskier situations based on what we intuitively believe to be the case, and lives are lost/damaged as a result.

ThursdayNext · 26/03/2009 14:14

edam, I think it's to do with familiarity as well. As a bus user and a driver I feel much safer on the bus, the op obviously never uses the bus so has no experience and seems completely disinterested in rational argument and statistics.

ShauntheSheep · 26/03/2009 14:18

Sorry really cant see what your problem is tbh. Buses are a very safe form of transport and the number of passengers injured is tiny compared to that of car passengers so statistically your child will be safer on the bus.

Am actually that you have never taken him on a bus. Bus and train rides are fabulous things to do with kids (except in the rush hour) He will miss otu on a very exciting part fo the trip otherwise.

ThursdayNext · 26/03/2009 14:20

Department for Transport road casualty report

www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/roadcasualtiesgreatbri tain20071.

'Aviation, water and rail transport have very low fatality rates. In years when fatalities are high, it tends to be as a result of a major accident. Bus or coach travel have the lowest rates amongst road modes, these are of the same order of magnitude as for travel by rail'

Of course if children go in someone else's car they should be in a car seat, but buses are different because they are much safer. Really.

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