Friday, October 1, 2010

Public transport can be dangerous

Scary experience on the bus today. The bus had just left the station and was nearly full when a couple of us sitting in the front noticed that it was getting pretty warm pretty fast. Because the sun was shining and I was sitting behind glass I thought nothing of it, until I started smelling burnt rubber. Everything happened pretty fast after that.

Smoke began coming out of the side of the bus upon which the bus driver immediately pulled over beside the highway. One of the front wheels was on fire! We were told to evacuate the bus (obviously) and I was surprised at how calm everyone was. There were a couple of elderly people on the bus and a woman with a baby carriage was sitting next to the back door. People just calmly helped them off the bus and acted like the bus had just arrived at its final stop, no pushing or anything.
 
Once everyone got out, the bus driver managed to get the fire under control quickly with a fire extinguisher. Turns out the brake was stuck on that particular wheel causing it to overheat while driving and setting fire to the surrounding material. Thankfully no one was harmed and nobody panicked, I shudder to think what might have happened then.

13 comments:

  1. Bah, that is freaky. Be careful what bus your ride bro!

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  2. Wow, I guess it's a good thing I don't do public transportation. Then again I'm sure that could even happen with my car. Just remember to be safe.

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  3. Well nothing really serious could've happened I think. If the wheel went flat it'd cause the bus to stop automatically.

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  4. @mafiaso
    I was thinking more about what would've happened if people panicked. Panic is a terrible thing.

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  5. Yeah you're lucky everyone stayed calm. Thank God nothing bad happend.

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  6. Public transportation kills you emotionally and nearly physically it seems. I think I'll stick to a car.

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  7. Haha yeah, public transportation can be a bitch x)

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  8. Whoa, luckily everyone was safe.

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  9. lol, I bet one person started freaking out, looked around and realized he looked silly and calmed down.

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  10. I hate public transportation, still have to use it tho :/

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  11. I spent all my life between Home and School on bus and public transport...

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