Overnight bus safety

---

I have already written a blog on how to make your bus journey as comfortable as possible. This time I thought I would write a bit about bus safety.

While I was in Bolivia there was a deadly bus crash on the Uyuni to La Paz road. This road is extremely popular with travellers and many buses drive this stretch daily. Sadly, bus crashes aren't uncommon across Bolivia. Many of the major roads are in poor condition, the bus companies often only use one driver, even for long journies and these drivers have known to drink before driving.

There are a few things you can do to stay safer.

- Firstly, whenever possible, use your seatbelt!! I can't hammer this home enough. It might be uncomfortable or seem uncool but it could just save your life! Unfortunately not all buses have them (sometimes they have fallen or have been struffed between the seats so have a dig around) but if they are there, belt up!

- Sit in the middle of the bus. Now I understand the attraction of the front row seats. With their extra leg room and big windows for views and photo takings buuuutttt if there is a crash you have no projection. The same can be said for any of the buses (double decker or single decker) - don't sit at the very front, immediately behind the driver, where there's huge panels of glass or hard plastic. Taking a seat in the middle of the bus offers greater protection.

- If you can afford it, splurge. Don't go for the cheapest bus company who may cut corners on maintenance and safety. Paying that bit more for one of the better bus companies should mean that your seat has a seatbelt and that they employee more than one driver for your over night journey. Also, there may even be a third employee who acts as a conductor.



Other things to add are:

- Don't flash expensive gadgets!

- Don't fall asleep with your ipad in your hands or ipod on display. Keep it out of sight.

- Never get off the bus without your carry-on bags! You could return to your seat and find your bags or items missing.

- Always keep your bags at your feet, do not use the overhead luggage space. Bus companies invite vendors on to the buses to sell refreshments - some buses have around 20 vendors in one go selling things. In Ecuador we were told never to put our bags in the overhead luggage shelf's. This is because some vendors are magicians and can steal your entire bag or items without you realising. We adopted this throughout all the other countries and didn't have anything stolen!

- We bought a chain to cover our bags which we used on every bus journey and every flight. It is a reasonable expensive purchase but absolutely worth it. We bought this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/PacSafe-Secure-Backpack-Bag-Protector/dp/B000N8GXI2/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416134102&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=metal+chain+protection+for+backpacks

- Never leave gadgets in your main bag - especially when flying. Things like binoculars, cameras and tablets are extremely valuable and do go missing. Sadly a girl we met in the Galapagos had her binoculars stolen from her checked back, as did my husband many years ago. Keep anything valuable on you!!



Stay safe and happy traveling !!

---