Christmas? In August? Well, not quite, but this time of year many people around the world actually start booking their bus tickets for Christmas travels. Either for spending the holidays in the winter resorts or just for go visiting friends and families. These people have one thing in common: they plan and make early reservations to be well prepared and avoid unpleasant surprises.
Many bus companies also plan and prepare, knowing there will be a peak of travellers around Christmas. Different companies have different strategies for coping with an increase in demand. Some can adapt quickly and arrange with extra buses and drivers on short notice, while others run a fixed number of buses, irrespective of demand. Hopefully, all bus companies make sure the vehicles are in perfect condition for safely transporting passengers – although bus accident statistics may indicate otherwise.
How to optimise the safety for your bus?
Bus companies operating in mountainous areas with snowy and icy winter roads are well aware of the necessity of traction to get passengers safely to their destination on time. As snow tyres and snow chains are standard equipment, it’s a bit surprising that the awareness of automatic snow chains seems to be somewhat low in some countries and areas.
I believe planning for winter and Christmas should not only be about transport capacity, but also about optimising safety. In that, considering automatic snow chains for buses would increase both passenger safety and drivers’ convenience.
Just like travellers who now start planning their Christmas travels, a lot of bus companies should plan for having automatic snow chains installed. Being well prepared is key to avoid unpleasant surprises and when winter strikes and bus passengers are travelling the icy roads for Christmas, it may be too late.
