Diet & Lifestyle Travel Sickness

Coach survey reveals 28.4% of all travellers feel ill

Over 28 per cent of all bus and coach passengers experience travel sickness, according to a national study carried out on 56 mainland UK bus and coach journeys.

Researchers at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, UK conducted a survey measuring the effects of vehicle motion on over 3256 passengers.

The results found that 28.4% of all passengers reported feelings of illness, 12.8% reported nausea and 1.7% reported vomiting during coach travel. Passenger nausea and illness ratings increased from lateral viewing during the journey and from extra motion.

The occurrence of nausea was greater on routes classified as being predominantly cross-country where lateral vehicle motion was significantly higher. The survey also found the travellers sitting towards the back of the bus or coach experienced worse feelings of sickness than those sitting near the front.

The results of the study suggest that travel sickness could be reduced by improved forward external vision, especially to those individuals new to coach travel or who travel less often.

Source: Ergonomics 1999 Dec;42(12):1646-64
Motion sickness in public road transport: the effect of driver, route and vehicle.
Motion sickness in public road transport: the relative importance of motion, vision and individual differences.
Turner M, Griffin MJ
Br J Psychol 1999 Nov;90 ( Pt 4):519-30