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Stop using buses? more of them catching on fire i would think.
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I didn't understand smokie's (what an appropriate username! Your day has come!) post until I watched the video.
I suppose the answer is - you keep going until you can't. One can't do anything, so best to get out of the way and get on with your life.
People stopped when the flames were the whole width of the carriageway. Made sense to me.
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I suppose stopping to see if there was any help was required is a thing of the past...
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Any road.
The fact that the people weren't British should tell you all you need to know.
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It's Argentina, probably not as lawless as some latin America countries, but is there still a fear of theft?
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Why stop if you can get through:
- passengers all off bus and no casualties
- avoid cluttering the area delaying emergency services
- the average car extinguisher (if carried) would make no impact on the fire
- no need to alert emergency services - 90% + on bus probably have smartphones
I suppose it is just possible there is amongst the passengers a heavily pregnant woman about to give birth, heart attack victims etc needing urgent care who would appreciate a lift to the nearest hospital.
Failing that, driving on is the sensible thing to do. Gawping at accident scenes is a reprehensible UK habit which on motorways often leads to more minor shunts.
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In UK terms a vehicle fire on the hard shoulder/edge of the road is something you see every now and then. If it's a bus but everybody seems to be off - ie nobody's obviously distressed and attempting rescue - no different to a lorry fire.
The odd thing here is that people are driving through almost until the fierce fire from leaking fuel is at the central reservation.
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I recall a family car heading south from the Dartford bridge a number of year ago.
It was on the hard shoulder (remember those) and flames were licking up around the bottom of the engine compartment.
I indicated to pull over to tell the occupants but a van beat me to it and I saw the van driver rush over with a fire extinguisher.
You could see the family unawares in still in the car!
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Rural road in France last week, not busy but plenty of vehicles and peds about.
Old Peugeot, 309 I think, on the verge gouts of smoke coming round the bonnet on which the paint was rapidly blistering.
Car empty of people, others around including somebody with a fire extinguisher.
I can understand basic French but I'm not conversationally fluent and took view I'd nothing to bring to the situation.
Got out of the way.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 17 Aug 23 at 20:35
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Back in the '60s, I was an apprentice as a passenger in a works van. Car with an underbonnet fire. We pulled up and I unclipped the brass extinguisher with a T handle. Before I could use it, the driver snatched it from my hands and squirted it, putting out the fire. He said "I always wanted to do that", funny I thought, so had I. Car driver wasn't best pleased, as his engine bay was now a dark red colour. I think those old extinguishers contained carbon tetrachloride, which was useful for removing stains from clothing and so they dyed it to prevent such use.
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".......carbon tetrachloride, which was useful for removing stains from clothing......."
Dab It Off ??
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It's odd in the bikng world. Stopped at the roadside in Netherlands - checking Google Maps for a nearby cafe - bike stops, brief conversation and he escorts me to a nice hamburger joint. He was initially stopping for a welfare check.
Fast forward to this year when the Guzzi broke down and one biker stopped to offer help.
I would generally stop in similar circumstances. If it was an accident scene and no emergency vehicles in sight I would certainly stop to help in some way or another.
The Zonda crash video shows cars dodging past the chrashing car, not sure what I would do in those circumstances as it would most certainly be very risky.
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 18 Aug 23 at 20:15
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It is quite normal to stop in the push bike world if a fellow cyclist has a problem. I often do stop if I am in the car.
"OK? Want anything?"
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>> It is quite normal to stop in the push bike world if a fellow cyclist
>> has a problem. I often do stop if I am in the car.
>>
>> "OK? Want anything?"
Just about to make that point.
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>> >> I
>>
>> Just about to make that point.
>>
I've had two experiences of that in recent years. The first when I was the recipient after breaking a chain five miles from home in a lane with no phone reception and a passing motorist who turned out to be a cyclist stopped and took me and the bike home. I was able to even up the good deed balance a few years later when i came across a rider with a broken pedal and drove him into town where the bike shop sorted him out.
The recognised symbol among motorcyclists in distress is to put the crash helmet on the ground behind the bike to alert fellow riders that assistance is required.
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>> The recognised symbol among motorcyclists in distress is to put the crash helmet on the
>> ground behind the bike to alert fellow riders that assistance is required.
Is that likely to spread?
Given I'm a refusenik when it comes to riding in a helmet should I carry one for that purpose?
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>>
>>
>> Is that likely to spread?
>>
>> Given I'm a refusenik when it comes to riding in a helmet should I carry
>> one for that purpose?
>>
I'm in your camp re headgear.
Not really necessary on a bicycle though as fellow cyclists are going slowly enough to work out whether a stationary cyclist is in distress or just waiting for a quiet moment to nip behind that gap in the hedge.
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I’m still conflicted on the bike helmet thing. By and large I wear one when off road biking but usually don’t when just pottering around on cycle lanes etc.
Having said that, if you’d seen the state of my helmet after my big off last year, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have survived that amount of damage to my head. It was destroyed and even then, I still suffered a cracked orbital bone to add to the upper limb damage.
I was a helmet sceptic too before that but I’m fairly sure they have a positive benefit in or on certain conditions.
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>> I was a helmet sceptic too before that but I’m fairly sure they have a
>> positive benefit in or on certain conditions.
If I was doing off road stuff in the terrain etc you do I'd wear one.
As a utility commuter rider or going round the lanes near home for fun I prefer the wind in my hair.
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I started riding motorbikes at 16. I recall meeting a motorcyclist years earlier, on a bus as he was trying to find his way home from the hospital. He showed me his helmet, cracked open from front to rear. He was obviously confused.
My daughters announced they wanted to cycle to school. They'd done their cycling proficiency. We insisted they wear helmets. They pointed out I didn't,so the next day I went and bought one. It was like a bright yellow custard bowl (we're talking about 30 years ago) and I've worn one ever since (daughters never cycled to school!).
I have to say I immediately noticed more respect from other road users, almost as much as when I fitted a white fairing and top box to my motorbike.
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Many years ago the son of some friends of my parents hit a pothole or manhole cover, came off, hit head, dead.
Mostly arms, legs, wrists etc can be repaired and returned to full use. No helmet - cracked skull (hit edge of kerb) and brain cannot be fixed.
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I suppose many safety devices aren’t really needed until they are.
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What would it take to make people stop? - sooty123
