Safer buses

– It should be safe to drive a bus on Norwegian roads, both for passengers and for the driver. Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen a number of serious frontal collisions where bus drivers have been seriously injured or killed. We cannot live with that. Therefore, we now want a requirement that all buses must have a stronger construction at the front, says Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is now submitting a proposal for stricter safety requirements for buses for consultation. The new safety requirements follow up on a recommendation from the Accident Investigation Board of Norway to increase collision safety in buses.

Reinforced front construction to improve safety

The proposal that is now being submitted for consultation, nationally and in the EEA system, is about reinforcing the construction at the front of the bus. In this way, the bus will be better protected against being deformed in a frontal collision. This will also make the driver significantly less susceptible to serious injuries.

The new safety requirements will apply to buses registered from next year onwards.

Joyful

The union leader of the Norwegian Industrial Traffic Association is pleased with the initiative for stricter safety requirements.

– This is an issue we have been working on for many years, and which we have put on the agenda both in meetings with authorities, in the media and with a large conference on bus safety most recently this autumn. Our members are naturally extremely concerned about this. In Norway, we have had several deaths and serious injuries to bus drivers in recent years. The lack of collision safety leads to great and completely unnecessary human strain and suffering. This is an important and necessary step on the road in our fight for safe workplaces, Klungnes asserts.