under the bus

China has officially unveiled a traffic-straddling bus, a massive vehicle that rides on stilts above two lanes of cars on busy streets. See the picture below (enlargement) for what it looks like, because describing the thing isn't easy.

An actual model that can hold 300 passengers is currently being tested on city streets in Qinhuangdao, on the coast due east of Beijing. Five other Chinese cities have already ordered similar buses of their own.

This is an interesting concept, but the practicality of it doesn't quite pass the common sense test. What happens if a driver cuts the thing off by changing lanes?

Or what happens if a car has a carrier strapped to the top that's a little too high? Or if a car breaks down in traffic, snarling everything and blocking the massive bus's stilts?

Presumably traffic on the roadway that will ride under the enormous thing will be limited to cars and very small trucks and vans. But how would that be enforced, because one screw-up could mean the bus has an accident.

I know I wouldn't want to be trapped in a traffic jam with that gigantic thing over top of me. I'm not claustrophobic but it just seems inherently unsafe -- what if it caught fire and people were trapped in cars beneath it?

I might ride on the thing, however, if it was convenient and had an established track record. But I'd wait for other people to be the beta passengers for a few months first.