City bus to trial new 'safety bricks’

As a cheap solution to replace frequently stolen safety equipment on city buses, transportation authorities in Xiangyang, Hubei Province are considering bricks to be used as glass-breaking devices in case of an emergency.

According to statistics, nearly 1,100 safety hammers are stolen from buses in Xiangyang every year, said local news portal cnhubei.com.

Wang Minggong, the driver who proposed the idea of "safety bricks", said he was inspired when he once saw a mental patient smash the front door of a bus with a brick.

With the company's permission, the route 27 driver tested his brick idea on an abandoned bus and successfully broke a window after three tries.

Wang's will be the first bus to carry safety bricks on a trial basis, and if successful the company will consider installing them citywide, said officials.