Which train carriage is safest

On a passenger train, your safest bet just may be to sit in the middle cars , or one car behind the middle. After all, most collisions happen at the front or rear of a train, and the types of issues that cause derailments, such as broken rails or welds, tend to occur near the front of the train , according to findings cited by Live Science.

Greg Placencia, an adjunct research assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Southern California, told HuffPost in a telephone interview.

Some come from the back but they are not as usual Far fewer crashes happen when the middle is hit directly. Even if you can't get a seat near the midpoint of a train, there's another potential safety factor you might want to consider -- namely, which way your seat is facing.

In other words, "it comes down to basic physics," as Placencia said. If I'm in a forward-facing seat, then I'm going to be pushed out of my seat. Investigators are working to determine what caused the derailment of Amtrak's Northeast Regional Train , which was carrying passengers and five crew members en route from Washington, D.

The train had seven cars, including the engine car, which separated from the others in the accident. Six of the cars overturned, and some were so mangled that firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to get people out, The New York Times reported. Studies suggest that broken rails or welds are the leading cause of derailment on main tracks, and these problems more often cause derailments near the front of the train.

Head-on collisions do occur, however. Prior to that she was an assistant city editor who oversaw breaking news and the courts and entertainment beats. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Politics Covid U. News World Opinion Business. Share this —. As it turns out, where you sit can also have an impact on your safety, so going beyond these standard precautions and choosing the safest seat in the car, plane, or bus can help keep you safe in the unfortunate event of an accident.

We pulled data from multiple sources to figure out the safest seats in different types of vehicle. Hopefully, you'll never have to put any of this to the test, but if you do, at least you'll be sitting in the right place.

Here are the safest places to sit in every kind of vehicle. Assuming a passenger is properly using their seatbelt or car seat or booster for a child, the rear middle seat is currently the safest seat in a car. However, as motor vehicle safety technology continues to improve, this age-old wisdom is beginning to change.

In cars from the most recent model years, experts now recommend adults age 55 or older sit in the front seats if they're looking for the safest spot, according to The New York Times. Though, according to the Times, as belts that tighten automatically with crash detection sensors appear in rear seats, the back seat will again be considered safest overall. That said, in the rare event of an airplane crash, there are certain areas of the plane that fare better than others.

Another analysis by Time found that passengers specifically in the middle seats of the rear of the plane had the highest chance of surviving. Seats in the middle third of the cabin were found to be the least safe in crashes. However, the researchers cautioned that there are different circumstances for every accident. Read more: This is the best place to be sitting if your plane is about to crash.