Emergency Exit Measures
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on passenger vehicles
Practical Suggestions for Effecting Big improvements in the Facilities Normally Provided for Escape from Buses and Coaches in the Event of Fire or Accident
0 N a recent occasion the writer stressed in an article that appeared in this paper the importance of designers and manufacturers taking steps to minimize the fire hazard on motor coaches and buses, and suggested the placing of the Autovac, petrol tank, etc. in more protected positions. He now proposes to explore the possibilities of providing easy exit from such vehicles in the event of an outbreak of fire.
There is great scope for body designers in tackling this problem. It would appear that, in the main, the original type of body design has been slavishly copied year after year, refinements for comfort and appearance having chiefly been made instead of a broad view of the safety outlook having been taken, .
The tire-risk bogy is not an obsession of the writer, but, when taking his seat in a passenger vehicle, he instinctively looks around and notes the ease or difficulty with which passengers could make a safe escape in -the event of a conflagration arising.
Restricted Window Openings, He notes the windows, and probably finds that these are so arranged that each alternate one opens. In the great majority of cases, hoWever, the modern type of window is purposely made to be capable of opening barely half way.
The idea, of course, is to safeguard the passengers by preventing them from putting their heads or arms out and thus meeting with an accident from passing traffic, lamp-posts, etc.
From this aspect the idea is good, but the restricted opening certainly would not allow passengers to make good their escape through the windows. Those lights which open fully usually have a protecting rail across them.
In the early days of coaches and buses the windows were made on similar lines to those used in railway carriages. It was possible to lower the whole window by means of a strap. The obvious fault of this type was that it was prone to rattle, owing to the use of solid tyres, and the prevailing bad roads, but a satisfactory adjustable window was eventually evolved,
Whilst a sound inechanical unit has been produced the safety factor seems for the most part to have been overlooked. In fairness to the windowmaking specialists, it should be pointed out that the windows are probably designed to specification, and, in any case, the designer of the body knows the limitations of these units as a means for egress for passengers, and in consequence, should arrange accord' ingly.
As previously stated, the restricted B30 window openings obviously interfere with the passengers' means for exit, therefore, in an emergency, they are of little use. Thus, the only method of escape through the windows is by breaking the glass to form as large an aperture as possible, leaving a framework of splintered glass around it. To accomplish this, passengers have prob ably noticed that a mallet is provided by some but companies, and the carrying of such a tool is stipulated by cer tain municipal bus operators. This method is extremely crude, and any person making an escape in this mariner might be badly cut in the process. Surely such conditions should not exist in modern luxury coaches.
Individual and Master Controls.
Considering the above possibilities, it seems inaperative that a large proportion of the windows should be designed so that they can be fully opened in emergency, by the conductor cm driver by means of a lever, or by someone outside the vehicle. Furthermore, each window should be capable of being opened individually by the people seated nearest to it
To meet these conditions it would appear quite feasible to make the windows so that they are mounted in q, pressed-steel frame, hinged suitably at the sill, with the catch (of the trip variety) at the top. Each would have • its own independent lever for opening, and above the catches, mounted one on each side of the body, would be two • shafts connected to roaster trip locks. The windows at both sides of the vehicle would be connected to their respective shafts, and these in turn would be cdupled to a cross-shaft at the front. This would have two operating levers, one under the control of the conductor or driver, and the other for operation from outside. At the same time, the small lever above each window could be controlled by anyone occupying the seats.
It will be noted that a ledge is formed at the top of the frame, and this serves as a step for descending when the window is open. Alternatively, a simpler and cheaper scheme could be adopted. The window would • be of a type similar to that of the
railway carriage. In this case it would be made to fall in its frame into a space between the outside and inside panels, and each would be operated by an individual lock.
, In the case of the double-decker provision is already made for the escape of passengers in the upper saloon ; either the rear or front window frames are built to open somewhat on the lines described above.
The Inadequate Emergency Door.
Let us now consider the rear emergency door. As applied to many singledeckers and made in accordance with regulations, this is usually capable of being opened by a lever or handle, either from the inside or outside; its width is approximately 15 ins. On each side is placed a seat for two persons, consequently a narrow corridor or space, probably 2 ft. long, is formed leading from an open space between the side seats over the wheel-arches.
This corridor being thus placed, naturally causes a bottle-neck of the worst type. In the event of a number of people standing in the open space, a rush being made for the door, and the four people in the rear seats endeavouring to get out at right-angles to the movement of the crowd, progress would
become extremely difficult—to say the least of it. To make matters worse, luggage and parcels are often stacked against the emergency door ; this may be against the regulations, but is, nevertheless, true.
In the case of the double-decker, this difficulty does not arise, for the opening to the platform is usually of ample dimensions and there is plenty of space between the side seats over the wheel-arches. Again, there appears to be less overcrowding on this type of vehicle than on single-deckers.
The writer suggests that the opening at the rear of the single-decker should be of much larger proportions, and seriously proposes that the rear of the
bus body should resemble the doors on a delivery boxvan. Tie advocates that the end of the body should be split and the halves should open as doors, with the rear seats fixed to them,.
These seats should be provided with side hand rails and footboards, so that, in emergency, the doors could be _operated either from inside or outside.
The external handle would be let into the door and covered with mica or some similar substance, which would have to be broken before the handle could be operated.
The Lesser of Two Evils.
It should be realized that if the seats were not attached to the doors and swung open with the passengers in situ, they would form an obstruction and practically nothing would be gained. This suggestion will probably raise a smile and provoke the comment that the passengers may become unseated and fall to the ground, hut the writer suggests to his critics that it is far better to suffer the risk of a broken limb than that of incineration!
On many buses it is desirable that the conductor should be provided with a seat in a position where he can command the operating levers for door and window opening.
Regarding the flooring material, wooden boards, linoleum and rubber matting should, in the writer's opinion, be prohibited ; the use of a fire-proof composition 'material should be compulsory. Furthermore, firc-extinguishers should be freely distributed around the inside of the vehicle and not left in the sole care of the driver.
in considering all the above points, it is obvious that the all-metal body has distinct merits.