Sad end to a bus and it's driver

Jeremy · January 05, 2012, 01:05:56 AM

Normally I wouldn't link to anything written by the Daily Mail (brain-rotting tabloid newspaper), but this story contains a sobering video for bus drivers everywhere:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082292/Caught-camera-horrifying-moment-bus-plunges-ravine-worlds-dangerous-road.html

Jeremy

chev49 · January 05, 2012, 02:33:39 AM

i agree with your post..
try the SUN... its the UK's finest...

TomC · January 05, 2012, 07:31:28 AM

At least he unloaded his passengers first-he'll be remembered for that. Good Luck, TomC

artvonne · January 05, 2012, 01:35:43 PM

Although the answer seems rather obvious, like DUH, is there any word the driver was killed? Like I say it seems obvious, but stranger things have happened. Man, thats really here one minute, gone the next. I would have floored it across that soft spot. No, I wouldnt have been on that road in the first place. Looks like just walking it could be deadly.

Jeremy · January 05, 2012, 02:05:29 PM

Quote from: artvonne on January 05, 2012, 01:35:43 PM
Although the answer seems rather obvious, like DUH, is there any word the driver was killed?

Says so in both the headline of the article, and in the text itself...

What surprises me is the bus itself - it's a big, heavy, modern double-decker coach plying those awful roads, not the basic-but-nimble 40-year-old Mercedes bone-shaker you expect.

Jeremy

zubzub · January 05, 2012, 06:02:28 PM

I've taken a bus down that road....it is the only road in the area so you have no choice. "Course I didn't know it was the most dangerous road in the world....nobody told me. Took it at night so no real memory, lots of switchbacks and waiting for apposing traffic to clear. Bolivia is plagued by roads running along valley walls, no way around it, and of course being the 2nd poorest country in latin america doesn't help with infrastructure. The bus i took was a 30 footer, it was the 1st one going my way, bumpy ride from hell, the article says 35 miles to Chorio from La Paz....took about 4 hours. Bolivia has a fondness for big buses, they lend an air of fancy to a hardscrabble existence. My favorite was a wee little back roads bus all tricked out to look like a big ol Setra, insect mirrors etc....

Lin · January 05, 2012, 06:25:34 PM

I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the road gave out.

Brassman · January 05, 2012, 06:50:04 PM

duh!

TomC · January 06, 2012, 03:29:24 PM

What gets me is why anyone would drive on that highway when highway 3 that is paved goes the same way? Bolivia should shut down that road. Good Luck, TomC

Iceni John · January 06, 2012, 03:39:43 PM

Sometimes when new roads are made the old roads still stay in operation to serve local traffic. When this happens the old road often gets no more repairs until it finally becomes impassable. Maybe the new road is a toll road, and locals don't want to pay (or simply cannot afford) the tolls?

John

belfert · January 06, 2012, 05:10:12 PM

I think this might be one of the same roads they drove on the IRT Deadliest Roads TV show. I'm surprised the TV show drivers didn't end up like this driver.

artvonne · January 07, 2012, 12:35:47 AM

For the number of accidents and deaths that road is known for I cant understand the government not closing it or strictly limiting it to small SUV type vehicles. Or put enough money and work into it to make it reasonably safe. It doesnt look much better than a pig trail. And oh look, more Buses coming. I wonder what they did, doesnt look much fun to back up on. Probably not many places to turn a goat around much less a 40 foot Bus

zubzub · January 07, 2012, 06:12:27 AM

This is the main road there are no options. Foreign tourists might take the road to see it, but in the vid the Bolivians you see are probably travelling to or from work/home etc... To understand why a route like this is open you need to understand the economy and the terrain, there is no option of closing it, no $$ to fix it, it is a main route. As to fixing the part that collapsed in the vid, the advantage Bolivians have is that many of the road repair crews are on foot, and the only gear they have are picks and shovels, so they can walk climb to any washed/slid out bit. I have seen fully mechanized road crews building brand new highways in other areas usually near mining operations.

Quote from: Iceni John on January 06, 2012, 03:39:43 PM
Sometimes when new roads are made the old roads still stay in operation to serve local traffic. When this happens the old road often gets no more repairs until it finally becomes impassable. Maybe the new road is a toll road, and locals don't want to pay (or simply cannot afford) the tolls?

John

Quote from: TomC on January 06, 2012, 03:29:24 PM
What gets me is why anyone would drive on that highway when highway 3 that is paved goes the same way? Bolivia should shut down that road. Good Luck, TomC

This is the only road....I also looked at the map and thought it was paved. Wishful thinking on the map makers part, almost all of Highway #3 once it crests the mountain range and begins descending is gravel ( in 2010 anyhow) and it stays gravel all the way to Yucumo.
A batter description of the situation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road