I believe in majority of accidents, the extent of damage is due
to the impact of collusion and not so on the bodywork. Speed,
amount of force, size & type of vehicles involved in collusion,
road conditions etc.
For modern buses which are made up of more fibreglass components
instead of metal, it helps to reduce capital cost, dead weight of
the bus and hence greater fuel economy.
Our Habits uses fibreglass panels too, but why can they
withstand impacts so much better?
The trick lies in the structure, not the panels that covers the
structure. The framework is what supports and made up of, a
bodywork. The fibreglass panels are merely cosmetic parts that
cover up the bus, much like the difference between bones and
skins.
Most modern bodywork used aluminium as their structure material.
Depending on the aluminium alloy, their strength varies. There are
2xxx, 3xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx etc. series of alloys, all with their unique
strength and properties. Pure aluminium is too weak. My school's
Engineering workshop ever used a pure aluminium sheet. Its abt 5mm
thick. I can dent it by just punching hard with my fist. Aluminium
is a SUPER poor impact resistor. It cannot withstand hard impacts.
I shan't go further into this, later become too cheem.
Hispano Habit, however, uses steel (or stainless steel) as their
structure materials (according to product pdf. file). Steel is
extremely hardy when it comes to resisting impacts. However its
main drawback is its weight. Steel has higher yield point (the
point where metal fails under constant strain) compared to
aluminum. It has a unique bending properties too.
I still trust a Habit, as its bodywork is tested with accordance
to EU safety standards (including rollover tests).
