Transport safety has traditionally focused on preventing accidents through stability systems, driver-assistance technology, collision mitigation and operational controls. While prevention remains essential, modern safety engineering increasingly recognises that some emergencies cannot be avoided.

As public transport becomes more complex, regulators and manufacturers are placing greater emphasis on survivability when systems fail. The focus is shifting from simply preventing emergencies to ensuring passengers can survive and evacuate when prevention is not enough.

UNECE Regulation No. 107 Rev.10 reflects this shift by strengthening emergency evacuation requirements for M2 and M3 passenger vehicles, with greater focus on accessible, reliable and measurable evacuation capability under degraded conditions.

The regulation recognises that emergency systems must remain usable during realistic crises such as smoke, panic, electrical disruption or infrastructure failure, making evacuation capability an operational survivability outcome rather than a passive compliance feature.

For operators and manufacturers, the priority is clear: safety systems must work under worst-case conditions, with emergency escape systems serving as a critical final layer in transport resilience.  As transport technology evolves, safety will depend not only on preventing emergencies, but on ensuring passengers retain a dependable means of escape when prevention fails.

https://bus-news.com/why-bus-safety-is-shifting-from-prevention-to-survivability/