Legally? Might have something to do with the niceties of child seats, if applicable. Most large sedans I've been in have regular belt-equipped seating for, at most, five (with front buckets) or six. But apparently it was a car, contrary to widespread initial reports that it was a van.
from a survival standpoint, though some lawyers might dwell on it as well as the fact that the driver of the car was 15 and thus technically shouldn't have been driving. Apparently, in my estimation based on news reports, they were stopped in a situation where one must stop, and were sitting there minding their own business when they got hit so hard that a spokesman for the state patrol described the aftermath as "a mangled, charred mess." (Apparently the *school bus* traveled 200 feet and spun around.)
The Florida accident 3624rec.autos.driving on Fri, 27 Jan 2006 03:51:33 GMT: In general, I agree with this take. My opinion generally has been that school busses should not be stopping on any road...
How many of us could have avoided such an accident, and how many of our vehicles could have fared any better, is questionable. The police spokesman indicated, based on examination of the scene, that the truck driver might not have even attempted to brake. If he was doing anything near the 60 mph speed limit on that stretch... that would be a real wallop even from another car, much less a heavy truck.
Various agencies including the federal National Transportation Safety Board -- the experts who reconstruct what happened in plane crashes and train wrecks and so forth -- are looking into all this.
With sympathies to all concerned, --Joe
