Why do passengers jerk forward when brakes are applied?

Originally Answered: When the driver applies the brake suddenly, why does the upper part of the passenger jerk or move in a forward direction? The upper part of the passenger's body will appear to jerk forward because the lower part of his body is firmly attached to the seat of the car.



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This is due to inertia of rest of upper part of the passengers body when the bus or train suddenly starts moving, the lower part of the passenger's body starts moving along with the bus or train while upper part of the body has a tendency to remain in the state of rest due to inertia of rest and hence falls backward.

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When a bus starts suddenly,its passengers tend to fall backwards because due to their inertia, the passengers tend to remain in a state of rest even when the bus starts moving.

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When a bus or train at rest starts, to move suddenly, the passengers sitting in it jerk in the backward direction due to their inertia of rest.

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This is because of inertia of motion. The part of our body, which is in contact with the bus, changes the direction of motion. However, the rest of the body tries to move in the same direction as before because of inertia of motion.

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