Just look at that. This truck is taller than a used kid (10 years old). I assume the truck can run over pretty much any other age but probably the driver might be able to see older kid’s heads. Or we could teach our kids to jump to school rather than walk. If you see a truck, jump and make eye contact before jumping while crossing the street. Or we could tell our kids to never go outside until they are 21.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        24
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        20 days ago

        Looking at normal buses, the driver is sat high up, right at the front and with a clear view in front of them. And it’s so weird the US school buses just ignore that design and are shaped like an old truck.

        • Omgpwnies@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          20 days ago

          shaped like an old truck.

          Up until recently, a good chunk of school buses were trucks, mainly based on the E/F350 - F650 platforms (or 3500 - 6500 if using GMC). Recently though, bus manufacturers are switching to internally designed platforms and the result is more cab-over buses and the ones that aren’t have a more swept hood (look at the Blue Bird Vision for an example). However, small buses are still based on truck platforms (E/F350, or GMC 3500)

        • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          20 days ago

          A lot of those have been replaced with modern designs. Just like most things, the farther you are from a city the shittier things get.

      • frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        20 days ago

        School busses have barriers to force children to walk far enough away. When you don’t care about smooth lines, practical solutions are possible.

      • psud@aussie.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        16 days ago

        They sort of are. Long hoods and large grills look powerful (like there’s a huge motor in there) so they compete to look tougher and more powerful

    • Ridgetop18@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      20 days ago

      I don’t disagree with the general premise.

      But saying “this quarry hauler is only barely worse than pickup trucks” when it takes double the distance to see one…feels disingenuous. Same with the “this tractor cab has better visibility but requires a special license”, yeah cause a heavy laden trailer massively increases the stopping distance and requires a more advanced skill set.

      I also feel like the kinda situations where “a three year was suddenly less than 1m from my bumper with zero warning” is more of a walkability/road design/driver awareness issue than one specifically solvable by increased visibility. I’m also aware I’m no traffic safety scientist; also more visibility is of course better.

      I feel like this focuses on something that’s rooted more in emotion than logic or data, but there is a link between hood height and pedestrian injury severity iirc, and lowering that does increase visibility as a result.