Michael Abrahams | Why left-hand drive school buses place our children at risk

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Daryl Vaz, recently announced the introduction of a rural school bus programme utilising 110 refurbished American school buses. However, there are safety concerns as the buses are old (many over 10 years) and left-hand drive (LHD).

In Jamaica, we drive on the left, and there are concerns that because the steering wheels on these buses are on the side away from oncoming traffic, the judgement of their drivers may be compromised. For example, with wrong-hand drive vehicles, such as LHD vehicles driving on the left side of the road, large blind spot areas arise that increase accident risk, especially when overtaking or changing lanes.

Several years ago, less than a week after purchasing a new car, I got rammed on the rear left side in Half-Way Tree by a large LHD truck, whose driver did not see me as I was in his blind spot. On the other hand, an old schoolmate of mine commented in a social media post that she has been driving a LHD vehicle for many years and has had no issues. But our experiences are anecdotal. A rational assessment of accident risk associated with wrong-hand drive vehicles should include dispassionate perusal of relevant research on the topic, and such studies do exist.

INCREASE ROAD FATALITY

A study from the UK, where motorists drive on the left side of the road, titled “The causal effect of wrong-hand drive vehicles on road safety,” published in the journal Economics of Transportation (Roesel, 2017) https://shorturl.at/ZBCJA found that wrong-hand drive vehicles increase road fatality, accident and injury risk by 30 per cent. The researchers calculated that 370 accidents involving 520 casualties would have been avoided in 2015 if LHD vehicles were banned from British roads and concluded that “tough regulations on wrong-hand drive vehicles is therefore highly recommended.” Another study titled “The safety of vehicles imported from right-hand-drive vehicle configuration countries when operated in a left-hand-drive vehicle environment” in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention (Cooper et al, 2009) https://shorturl.at/H2WmA found that wrong-hand drive vehicles had a significantly greater risk of at-fault crash involvement when compared with those with the steering wheel on the side closer to oncoming traffic. The report “Left-hand drive HGVs and foreign truck drivers in OTS” published by the Vehicle Safety Research Centre and Loughborough University in England (Danton et al, 2009) https://shorturl.at/npRsm, found LHD trucks to be overrepresented in UK accident data.

The causal effect of wrong-side drive vehicles on road safety was inadvertently demonstrated by a natural experiment in Sweden, where motorists drove on the left side of the road for 233 years. For reasons of international trade and customer demand, however, most vehicles in the country were LHD, and this contributed to many accidents, especially on narrow roads. In 1967, Sweden switched to driving on the right to be more compatible with the majority of vehicles there. The shift to right-hand traffic decreased road fatality, injury, and accident risk by approximately 30 per cent. It has been estimated that an earlier switch would have saved more than 4000 lives between 1953 and 1966. Also, in Kyrgyzstan, where motorists drive on the right, it was noted in 2013 that 13 per cent of registered vehicles were RHD; however, the proportion of accidents involving RHD vehicles was disproportionately higher, at 24 per cent.

BANNED

The evidence that wrong-hand drive vehicles are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents is so high that they are banned in some countries. For instance, Australia, Bangladesh, Kenya, New Zealand, and Singapore, where motorists drive on the left, have banned the importation of non-vintage LHD vehicles. Similarly, right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles are not permitted in right-hand traffic countries such as Brazil, the Philippines, Taiwan, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.

LHD buses are designed to be driven on the right side of the road, so the doors where passengers enter and exit the vehicle are on the right side, with the front door usually directly across from the driver, who is able to see all passengers as they enter. The American school buses are no different, which means that in Jamaica, the doors will open on the side exposed to oncoming traffic, placing boarding and departing passengers at risk. These buses also have stop arms that protrude from the left side to alert motorists behind the bus that children may be exiting the vehicle and crossing the street, thereby deterring them from attempting to overtake the bus and possibly hitting the youngsters. This means that in Jamaica these signs will protrude from the side of the bus adjacent to the sidewalk, which may not be visible to motorists behind the vehicle. There have been assurances that the buses will be retrofitted to, among other things, have doors installed on the left sides of the vehicles. That remains to be seen. But why not just purchase RHD vehicles in the first place, instead of buying LHD ones and carving out doors in them?

What further increases the accident risk is that Jamaica’s road fatality rate continues to be among the highest globally. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Jamaica ranks 51 out of 197 countries and territories for which data has been collected, placing us near the top 25 per cent. https://shorturl.at/3QDCr

Placing over 100 large, old, wrong-hand drive vehicles on thoroughfares in a country with a high road traffic mortality rate is not a good idea, particularly in rural areas, where roads are often narrow and winding with uneven surfaces and potholes, and course through hilly terrain. The evidence that wrong-hand drive vehicles are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents is irrefutable. Large projects, such as this, should be data-driven and evidence-based, accompanied by rigorous risk-benefit analysis. The decision to place children in these vehicles on our country roads suggests suboptimal due diligence regarding safety. Our children deserve a safer option.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams