4 ms·

" drivers prefer conventional trucks, the ride better, largely handle better, and are safer for the driver." I drove truck in the 90's and the joke back then wa

" drivers prefer conventional trucks, the ride better, largely handle better, and are safer for the driver." I drove truck in the 90's and the joke back then was "cabover driver's were the first to arrive at the scene of an accident".

oblio 5y ago
Are they better for pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and other drivers, though? I imagine it's much easier to see things in front of you with the cabover design. Personally I'd optimize a bit more for everyone else's safety, since you know, there's more of them. Plus a semi is a multi-ton missile going 90kmph.
- AuthorizedCust 5y ago
  Can you share evidence they aren’t better? School buses typically have a large nose in front of the driver. Are they unsafe?
  - oblio 5y ago
    I can't really share any studies, but some people seem to have more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30195371 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30195371 Intuitively it would make sense that being able to see in front of you with no obstruction would have an impact on safety. How much, I can't say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ > School buses typically have a large nose in front of the driver. Are they unsafe? Guess what, European buses don't have a nose, either :-)))
  - stefan_ 5y ago
    Those hunking blocks of sheet-metal in the US that you call school buses (alternatively, prisoner transport)? Well, yeah. European buses share much with their truck counterparts, except the massively better visibility all around: https://www.mercedes-benz-bus.com/content/dam/mbo/markets/common/brand/omnibus-magazin/ecitaro-on-the-road/images/content/om19-content-ecitaro-on-the-road-1680x945-001.jpg https://www.mercedes-benz-bus.com/content/dam/mbo/markets/co...
  - frosted-flakes 5y ago
    Some school buses have a large nose, but many school buses are rear-engined and have flat fronts.
  - zardo 5y ago
    School busses have a regulatory carve out for pollution controls and seat belts. School busses are most dangerous new built passenger vehicles allowed on the road in the US with more than three wheels.
    - Aloha 5y ago
      Yet fatal accidents involving school buses are vanishingly rare.
      - jandrese 5y ago
        School busses only rarely get on the highway, most collisions happen on low speed secondary roads, which are rarely fatal. Plus the sheer mass of the bus means it doesn't get thrown around as much as a car would in an accident.
      - zardo 5y ago
        They do have higher standards for the drivers
        throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        The standards are basically the same as for a commercial truck driver. The edge cases of what they're willing to accept are slightly different.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      How dangerous?
- Aloha 5y ago
  Truck accidents where the truck plows into another vehicle are relatively rare. We know because they're recorded by the DOT, and kept as statistics. You're more likely to take them our with the trailer than driving over the front of them. I have seen four wheelers do all sorts of stupid shit around trucks, stuff that endangers everyones lives, I want that extra little bit of hood in front of me. I agree that going to a hybrid model is good, where its a short nose conventional cab, like the Cascadia - rather than a long hood-high hood model.
  - freeflight 5y ago
    > Truck accidents where the truck plows into another vehicle are relatively rare. Interesting, in Germany there happen 4 truck accidents on highways every day, every third one of those is a truck driving into the end of a traffic jam [0], in total they apparently cause more deaths than speeding [1]. [0] https://www.autofahrerseite.eu/sicherheit/524-lkw-unfall-stauende.html https://www.autofahrerseite.eu/sicherheit/524-lkw-unfall-sta... [1] https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/lkw-unfaelle-fordern-mehr-tote-als-zu-schnelles-fahren-16008111.html https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/lkw-unfaelle-fordern-...
    - Aloha 5y ago
      Driving a cabover would seem to not help in those situations, somewhat obviously. A cabover has better close up visibility, not distance.
      - ngcc_hk 5y ago
        These day even very cheap car (Nissan micra say) has auto brake and track alignment. Not e-car just normal one. If the stat is so bad in German can this help? Seems inexpensive technology now like abs etc.
        d1sxeyes 5y ago
        It's there, but there are issues: https://trid.trb.org/view/1756275 https://trid.trb.org/view/1756275

oblio 5y ago

Are they better for pedestrians, cyclists, bikers and other drivers, though? I imagine it's much easier to see things in front of you with the cabover design. Personally I'd optimize a bit more for everyone else's safety, since you know, there's more of them. Plus a semi is a multi-ton missile going 90kmph.

AuthorizedCust 5y ago
Can you share evidence they aren’t better? School buses typically have a large nose in front of the driver. Are they unsafe?
- oblio 5y ago
  I can't really share any studies, but some people seem to have more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30195371 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30195371 Intuitively it would make sense that being able to see in front of you with no obstruction would have an impact on safety. How much, I can't say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ > School buses typically have a large nose in front of the driver. Are they unsafe? Guess what, European buses don't have a nose, either :-)))
- stefan_ 5y ago
  Those hunking blocks of sheet-metal in the US that you call school buses (alternatively, prisoner transport)? Well, yeah. European buses share much with their truck counterparts, except the massively better visibility all around: https://www.mercedes-benz-bus.com/content/dam/mbo/markets/common/brand/omnibus-magazin/ecitaro-on-the-road/images/content/om19-content-ecitaro-on-the-road-1680x945-001.jpg https://www.mercedes-benz-bus.com/content/dam/mbo/markets/co...
- frosted-flakes 5y ago
  Some school buses have a large nose, but many school buses are rear-engined and have flat fronts.
- zardo 5y ago
  School busses have a regulatory carve out for pollution controls and seat belts. School busses are most dangerous new built passenger vehicles allowed on the road in the US with more than three wheels.
  - Aloha 5y ago
    Yet fatal accidents involving school buses are vanishingly rare.
    - jandrese 5y ago
      School busses only rarely get on the highway, most collisions happen on low speed secondary roads, which are rarely fatal. Plus the sheer mass of the bus means it doesn't get thrown around as much as a car would in an accident.
    - zardo 5y ago
      They do have higher standards for the drivers
      - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        The standards are basically the same as for a commercial truck driver. The edge cases of what they're willing to accept are slightly different.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    How dangerous?
Aloha 5y ago
Truck accidents where the truck plows into another vehicle are relatively rare. We know because they're recorded by the DOT, and kept as statistics. You're more likely to take them our with the trailer than driving over the front of them. I have seen four wheelers do all sorts of stupid shit around trucks, stuff that endangers everyones lives, I want that extra little bit of hood in front of me. I agree that going to a hybrid model is good, where its a short nose conventional cab, like the Cascadia - rather than a long hood-high hood model.
- freeflight 5y ago
  > Truck accidents where the truck plows into another vehicle are relatively rare. Interesting, in Germany there happen 4 truck accidents on highways every day, every third one of those is a truck driving into the end of a traffic jam [0], in total they apparently cause more deaths than speeding [1]. [0] https://www.autofahrerseite.eu/sicherheit/524-lkw-unfall-stauende.html https://www.autofahrerseite.eu/sicherheit/524-lkw-unfall-sta... [1] https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/lkw-unfaelle-fordern-mehr-tote-als-zu-schnelles-fahren-16008111.html https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/lkw-unfaelle-fordern-...
  - Aloha 5y ago
    Driving a cabover would seem to not help in those situations, somewhat obviously. A cabover has better close up visibility, not distance.
    - ngcc_hk 5y ago
      These day even very cheap car (Nissan micra say) has auto brake and track alignment. Not e-car just normal one. If the stat is so bad in German can this help? Seems inexpensive technology now like abs etc.
      - d1sxeyes 5y ago
        It's there, but there are issues: https://trid.trb.org/view/1756275 https://trid.trb.org/view/1756275