[W.A.G.7]

Ok, so that's how it goes. That's what I was wondering; how much weight would passenger luggage add to the bus. Never knew they transport heavy goods also within these buses. In any case, the maintenance of the buses is so bad, that I seldom feel like travelling on them. The last time I had travelled by a 1x2 bus (not a sleeper) was 10-12 years ago from Pune to Indore. It was already claustrophobic in a seater bus, so I can only imagine how bad it must be inside these sleeper buses.

[Sweet Chariot]

early janury this year we had cousin's marriage in karkala(udupi), my relatives had a terrific accident in AC sleeper bus from suguma on thier way to karkala. the driver could not control when an oncomming bus severed more into opposite side in ghat section and jumped into the ghats. 2 died and 15 critically injured. the bus was overloaded with luggage on the top and none of the bus guys took any injured to the hospital, the first thing i heard they did was shift the luggage to another bus and leave the place.

passers by assisted my relatives and addmitted them to a hospital and they were later bought to mangalore hosipital in ambulance and were in ICU for more than a week. the luggage and bags were all missing and they had to run around for 3 days to get them back.

[Gansan]

I don't find them comfortable; give me the train any day! I travelled only once by Vivegam non-AC sleeper / seater combo to Tuticorin. I had a single berth positioned lengthwise, with my feet facing forward. I found the repeated braking /acceleration/swerving/ body roll very disturbing, unlike the smooth movement of a train. And I, who will sleep right through a bus journey if I had a comfy seat, could hardly sleep!

After midnight I spotted a fellow sitting in his push-back seat wide awake and offered him my berth in exchange for his seat, which he accepted with alacrity! I sat comfortably in his seat, opened the window a crack and slept for the rest of the journey.

I have never ever opted for a sleeper afterward.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

my relatives had a terrific accident in AC sleeper bus from suguma on thier way to karkala.

Mmm....Terrific?

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

the driver could not control when an oncomming bus severed more into opposite side in ghat section and jumped into the ghats.

oncomming? severed?

Need to type a little slow I guess.

Back to topic:
I really do not think any positive is going to happen in the safety department. India is a huge country and life is cheap here. RTO is minting money under the table. Who cares for passenger?

If likes of Volvo are allowed to do the modification in their design labs then there is a little hope. Or else its life as usual.

[veyron_head]

I once took a sleeper on Sharma travels from bangalore to chennai and they put me in the last berth which was meant for two people! I was shoved to the rear of the bus and was sharing the berth with some unknown man!! It was heights of claustrophobia and suffocation. And no, its not a stop gap arrangement, the last row birth IS actually meant for two people since its a little wider (very little) than the other berths.

Thankfully a drunk man in an inebriated state boarded the bus in Krishnagiri and he gladly exchanged his seat for the sleeper berth, as he just needed a place to crash.

Coming back to the safety of these buses, I agree with the TS that they are inherently unsafe. In case of a fire, if an elderly person or a woman or for that matter anybody is in the upper berth, wouldn't it take a tad longer for them to get down to the floor and escape?

Being in a sleeper with closed curtains also makes you oblivious of whats happening around and in turn increases your chance of getting trapped in the bus.

[TheARUN]

Wonder why operators don't use the SLF Bus Chassis for building sleeper busses, this Chassis would lower the center of gravity. Also there seem to be 2 types of berth designs, first, 2+1 berths on two levels and more recently Train type berths with 4 berths in each cubicle. Problem is that the later arrangement gets only 20 berths per Bus

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Wonder why operators don't use the SLF Bus Chassis for building sleeper busses, this Chassis would lower the center of gravity. Also there seem to be 2 types of berth designs, first, 2+1 berths on two levels and more recently Train type berths with 4 berths in each cubicle. Problem is that the later arrangement gets only 20 berths per Bus

That's a nice thought. But we have wheel arches and they will intrude into sleeper space. So the 250 mm difference in floor height cannot be fully utilized Also there should be minimum luggage space which becomes less in case of SLF.

[psp62in]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

But I always have the opinion of sleeper coaches are far from less in terms of safety. Two main reasons are - The sleeping position is very tricky for you to escape during emergency and second is the higher center of gravity of sleeper buses. The weight distribution is completely different for a seater and sleeper bus and its very dangerous at times in high speeds.
.......
I am not concluding that sleepers are the only means of accident but still enforcement of laws should atleast reduce the number of accidents we are encountering now.

Completely agree!
As already pointed out, by design, the sleeper coaches are unsafe. Also, a passanger in sleeping posture in a moving vehicle is not adequately protected against any impacts. Sitting position is the most safe posture in that respect. In US, in many vehicles, adjustable seats must be in the upright position during travel.

[binaiks]

Happened to see this non-ac sleeper bus this morning near Anandarao Circle, in Bangalore. See the size of the windows:


It would sure to be a catastrophe if there is an accident.

[girishglg]

After reading all about the sleepers, have encouraged many of our relatives to avoid it unless it is of absolute necessity or the only option to travel to a particular destination.

Seriously these buses look like they are born to kill and in our road conditions it is even more dangerous than any other seater bus.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Happened to see this non-ac sleeper bus this morning near Anandarao Circle, in Bangalore. See the size of the windows:

But its written 'A/C Sleeper coach' on the side. You can see A/C unit on the top as well.

[Ashley2]

Last week I was travelling to Palani in SRM sleeper. There should be some issue with respect to suspension, and hence the ride was not settled since begining. There was heavy throw and sway. But some how I managed to sleep, but was getting disturbed on and off. But suddenly there was a feeling that, bus was going off a hill slide. I woke up fast and prepared for an emergency escape - remember that I am still in half sleep. But then I realised that there was no hammer to break the same.Now my sleep was almost gone and terror filled in.
Then I suddenly realised that travel is proper and going fine for every one except me.I launghed myself thinking about my horror dream -
I am sure that should be partly effected by this thread

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

I launghed myself thinking about my horror dream -
I am sure that should be partly effected by this thread

hehe.. but you will think twice before booking a sleeper again right?

Not long before the Chennai-Pollachi sleeper accident(KPN), i traveled in the same bus(my sleeper bus experience for the first and last time). And half the journey i was wondering what to do if there was an emergency.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

hehe.. but you will think twice before booking a sleeper again right?

Not long before the Chennai-Pollachi sleeper accident(KPN), i traveled in the same bus(my sleeper bus experience for the first and last time). And half the journey i was wondering what to do if there was an emergency.

I too traveled in the Chennai-Pollachi sleeper once and my next and last sleeper travel was in Madurai- Bangalore route.

BTW, Hindusthan started adding more sleepers. New route is their Coimbatore-thenkasi via tirupur, Madurai, rajapalayam.

[rki2007]

Good that i recollect the latest jorney by a sleeper AC bus of KPN. I sincerely request all the board member to reconsider their decision in case they are planning to travel by a KPN bus. The first horror thing that i understood was that the driver wasn't an experienced person and he was an temporary driver hired by KPN. The way he drove felt like i was on a roller coaster. The kind of blind turns kept me falling off my berth. I couldn't close my eyes.The second horror is that the bus that we traveled was a very old one which had a lot of mechanical issues. I was travelling from Karaikudi to Bangalore, the bus was in a very bad shape that right from beginning that ride quality was un-settled and felt a lot of shakes and vibrations. Finally the bus landed in deep trouble that there was too much of jumps,shakes and the ride quality was very unsettled and finally the bus broke down at Shoolagiri near Krishnagiri. All the passengers with their kids and off course a lot of female passengers were standing on the road helpless and KPN never bothered to make any arrangements for another bus for the passengers. The bus that we traveled refused to move further with too much of smoke that was fuming out of the engine bay with the coolant flowing like a river under the bus. All the passengers were screaming to switch off the engine to avoid any fire accidents to protect themselves and their belongings, but the driver never bothered to respect any of the requests. Also the driver was helpless because he was the only person without any helper with him. And finally all the passengers had no other alternative other than getting into any State transport buses and reach their destination and finally we reached Bangalore at 1.30 pm in the afternoon.

Most of the times i have traveled by KPN buses, they are very arrogant and never care for the Passengers. I feel even the other travel companies are also the same.