But let's get back to Georgia. Marshrutkas are fairly safe. If we disregard lack of safety belts, generally cramped condition (sometimes unbelievably packed) and non-existent emergency exit, the drivers, for the most part, drive carefully and not too fast (a Ford marshrutka anyway hardly hits 100 kph - 60 mph with its tiny engine).
But the maintenance is much worse. Most marshrutkas are actually second-hand vehicles from Western European countries, like Germany or The Netherlands. The owners/drivers do not bother to change/repair whatever needs to be done, and the tyres are the worst part. I have personally experienced a puncture (because the tyre was so badly worn) - luckily, it was a Mercedes with double back wheels. I have also seen a big piece of tyre chipped off, so that it had no rubber layer anymore and could blow anytime. The driver was avare of this and said it was Ok, although the marshrutka plied the very demanding Svaneti route (Zugdidi to Mestia). And then I was honored to ride a marshrutka which tyre was constantly rubbing against its body. Not to mention the countless minivans that have no tyre tread anymore (and no-one cares). I guess the only time the tyres are exchanged on a Georgian marshrutka is when they blow up.
Then there are buses - not too many, but they are second-hand Western buses, mostly from Greece. That's understandable, because Greece is close and has the best fleet of buses in Europe (equalled only by Turkey in the world and surpassed by Malaysia and Iran). They're pretty old Mercedeses, Setras or Neoplans (some of them even from 70s and 80s!), but reliable and fairly comfortable. They are not very fast either (especially considering the bad state of Georgian roads) and priced about the same as marshrutkas.
Safety of buses seems to be better than marshrutkas, as they don't seem to be in disrepair and their sheer size protects passengers should a traffic accident happen. But not all buses are comfortable western ones. Local buses are mostly Ukraininan 'Bogdan's with Isuzu engines, and while most of them are respectable, there are some which are unbelievably old and terribly beat up.
I personally take one such bus weekly. It has this nice sign - 'Pri avarii steklo rozbit molotkom', which translates from Russian as: In case of accident break the glass with the (supplied) hammer. Of course the hammer is long gone, but that's not the point. The point is that if there is accident, the whole bus will very likely crumble into a heap of scrap metal and there will be nothing to break, whether you have a hammer or not.
Smoking doesn't seem to be permitted on marshrutkas and buses, but drivers and people sitting in the front seats routinely chain-smoke. Sometimes even passengers light up a cigarette, but then you have to be persistent and tell them there is to be strictly no smoking or else you'll call the police (only then people realize that they shouldn't smoke on a marshrutka).
