# Why Different School Bus Designs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2007, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147 "2007-10-18T06:05:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147/21 "2007-10-18T20:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=MarcusF] In the UK and - I think - the rest of Europe you hardly ever see front-engine buses or trucks. They always look quaint and old fashioned in American films and TV programmes 😃 You could speculate that the absense of front-engine models outside the US is something to do with the size of roads, sharpness of bends, etc. Do they have front-engine trucks/buses in Australia? Big open spaces etc … [/QUOTE] Australia, like the US, gets both varieties[1]. One unmentioned downside of the cabover bus design is that if the driver gets in a wreck, it looks like they’re toast. No cite on that. [1] [Semi-trailer truck - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-trailer_truck) ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147/22 "2007-10-18T20:54:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Slant] I’ll break rule #1: Once upon a time when I was a little boy, my school bus driver was late deploying the flexible plastic pole in question. I got whipped across the shins, which smarted. What’s the penalty for breaking the rules of Bus Jousting club again? [/QUOTE] I love doing that. I don’t usually use the stop lights and arms because I am unloading/loading en masse in a parking lot. However, if a kid seems to be just standing there staring into space, I’ll give him a pat across the butt with the crossing arm. They never see it coming. 😃 [This is the bus](http://www.centralstatesbus.com/vision/vision.html) I usually drive for out-of-town trips. It offers excellent forward visibility, has a good turning radius (for a bus) and is quite comfortable. Some of ours even have CD players and radios. Just no air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147/23 "2007-10-18T22:19:00Z")
Somewhat related question: Why do some yellow school busses have white tops? I used to see them in Dallas when I lived there. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147/24 "2007-10-18T22:22:38Z")
[QUOTE=Pashnish Ewing] Somewhat related question: Why do some yellow school busses have white tops? I used to see them in Dallas when I lived there. [/QUOTE] Sunlight reflection. School buses don’t have air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147/25 "2007-10-19T03:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] Sunlight reflection. School buses don’t have air conditioning. [/QUOTE] Makes a really big difference, too. You wouldn’t think so, but it does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-different-school-bus-designs/423147.md?page=1)