At the beginning of the year, a video shared by the police, in which a bus hits a guy who suddenly ran in front of it, caused a lot of discussion. He got up and left. However, it turned out that the passengers fell and were injured in the bus while braking. Police asked for help identifying the guy in question, and the insurers point out that such cases do happen, so you need to listen and follow the safety instructions in public transport.
Gediminas Bulenokas, head of personal insurance products at insurance company BTA, says that in general, the carrier is responsible for the safety of passengers in public transport.
"When concluding passenger transport contracts with the city, companies undertake to provide services responsibly and safely. Carriers are also required to have compulsory vehicle operator liability insurance (TPVAPD) contracts. According to them, damages are compensated if an accident happens on the road or in the bus itself. However, the passengers themselves should also take care of their own safety - follow the safety instructions, hold on to the handrails, etc. Additional personal insurance would also help in such cases, because the person would be guaranteed to receive compensation, even if there was a dispute about the incident and it would take a long time to clarify who is to blame," says the BTA Personal Insurance Products Manager.
Carriers must be insured
Public transport the municipal company that organizes services in Vilnius "Communication services", operating under the JUDU brand, draws attention to the fact that public transport moves in general traffic and sometimes car drivers and other road users do not think that the stopping distance of buses and trolleybuses is much longer than that of passenger cars.
In order to avoid major accidents on the road, public transport drivers are forced to brake suddenly if necessary. In such cases, anything happens. However, according to JUDU representatives, the passengers themselves are very rarely injured - about once every six months. It is true that such incidents are irregular, so it is very difficult to find regularity - why and when such events usually happen. However, JUDU found out one of the unknowns in this equation: passengers are usually injured when the moment of sudden braking coincides with the time when passengers get up from their seats and walk towards the door without holding on to the handrail.
Aggrieved passengers are said to sometimes approach JUDU for compensation. It's not worth doing. The municipal company cannot help in these matters - compensation matters are decided by carriers. All of them have civil activity insurance.
Essential safety rules
JUDU reminds us that a safe journey by public transport starts at the stop. Passengers should arrive a little earlier, because the transport does not have to wait for the arriving passenger, but vice versa. When the door is closing, you should not rush through it and try to stop it, for example, by putting a backpack, handbag or something else in the gap.
You should wait for the bus or trolleybus arriving at the stop by moving away from the edge of the entrance or the roadside, prepare to get on or off, that is, look up from mobile phones or other devices. After boarding the transport, if there are free seats, you should sit down, and if you are traveling with small children, the elderly or passengers with difficulty moving, first of all take care of their safety. If the seats are occupied, passengers are asked to hold on to the handrails for the duration of the journey.
