Hayden Herrera's in-depth book - Frida: A Biography Of Frida Kahlo - describes the accident as follows:  

Far from being a unique piece of bad luck, such accidents were common enough in those days in Mexico City to be depicted in numerous retablos. Buses were relatively new to the city, and because of their novelty, they were jammed with people while trolley cars went empty. Then, as now, they were driven with toreador bravado, as if the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe dangling near the front window made the driver invincible. The bus in which Frida Was riding was new, and its fresh coat of paint made it look especially jaunty.

The accident occurred late in the afternoon on September 17, 1925, the day after Mexico had celebrated the anniversary of its independence from Spain. A light rain had just stopped; the grand gray government buildings that border the Zocalo looked even grayer and more severe than usual. The bus to Coyocan was nearly full, but Alejandro and Frida found seats together.

The girl whose wild dash through school corridors resembled a bird’s flight, who jumped on and off streetcars and buses, preferably when they were moving, was now immobilized and enclosed in a series of plaster casts and other contraptions.

Such a wise quote can easily be applied to more than just fashion.

It applies to everyday life. 

As it applies to Frida's accident, the novelty and popularity of taking the bus versus a trolly certainly affected the day's events.

Plutarco Elias Calles, President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928, prioritized:

• infrastructure
• building a road network that linked major cities and small villages
• industry
• a strong, organized labor movement
• health & hygiene for all citizens 

Inspired by his trip to France and Germany, he eagerly set out to contribute to Mexico's advancement on these vital matters - and was quite successful. 

In 1925, the year of Frida's accident, while buses were booming, everyone was still learning the best practices of driving and responding to these massive and beautiful new vehicles.

On a lighter note, silent movies were all the rage in 1925!

Silent movies were incredibly popular during this era. 

Frida Kahlo was definitely a fan. Given her personality, she was especially attracted to comedy and horror films. 

She was such a fan that the director of Frida, the movie, made it a point of including a scene of Diego and Frida going to a movie house to watch King Kong.  

Something to note about Frida is that she, at an early age, understood the importance of money. 

The average family in Mexico, at the time consisted of 3-5 people. 

Frida's family consisted of 8 - six siblings, plus mom and dad - and they relied on one income. 

The income of her father, Guillermo Kahlo, an accountant turned photographer. 

Following her accident, Frida didn't just have to overcome severe physical impediments but grave financial hardships.

As recounted in Hayden Herrera's book - Frida: A Biography Of Frida Kahlo.

"A little while after we got on the bus, the collision began. Before that we had taken another bus, but since I had lost a little parasol, we got off to look for it, and that was how we happened to get on the bus that destroyed me. The accident took place on a corner in front of San Juan Market exactly in front. The streetcar went slowly, but our bus driver was a very nervous young man. When the trolley car went around the corner, the bus was pushed against the wall.

I was an intelligent young girl but impractical, in spite of all the freedom I had won. Perhaps the reason I did not assess the situation, nor did I guess the kind of wounds I had. The first thing I thought of was a bolero [Mexican toy] with pretty colors that I had bought that day and that I was carrying with me. I tried to look for it, thinking that what had happened would not have major consequences.

It was a lie that one is aware of the crash, a lie that one cries. In me, there were no tears. The crash bounced us forward, and a handrail pierced me the way a sword pierces a bull. A man saw me having a tremendous hemorrhage. He carried me and put me on a billiard table until the Red Cross came for me."

“The electric train with two cars approached the bus slowly. It hit the bus in the middle. Slowly, the train pushed the bus. The bus had a strange elasticity. It bent more and more, but for a time, it did not break. It was a bus with long benches on either side. I remember that at one moment, my knees touched the knees of the person sitting opposite me. I was sitting next to Frida. When the bus reached its maximal flexibility, it burst into a thousand pieces, and the train kept moving. It ran over many people.

I remained under the train. Not Frida. But among the iron rods of the train, the handrail broke and went through Frida from one side to the other at the level of the pelvis. When I was able to stand up, I got out from under the train. I have no lesions, only contusions. Naturally, the first thing that I did was to look for Frida.

Something strange had happened. Frida was totally nude. The collision had unfastened her clothes. Someone in the bus, probably a house painter, had been carrying a packet of powdered gold. This package broke, and the gold fell all over the bleeding body of Frida. When people saw her, they cried, “La bailarina, la bailarina!” With the gold on her red, bloody body, they thought she was a dancer.

I picked her up – in those days, I was a strong boy – and then I noticed with horror that Frida had a piece of iron in her body. A man said, “We have to take it out!” He put his knee on Frida’s body and said, “Let’s take it out.” When he pulled it out, Frida screamed so loud that when the ambulance from the Red Cross arrived, her screaming was louder than the siren. Before the ambulance came, I picked up Frida and put her in the display window of a billiard room. I took off my coat and put it over her. I thought she was going to die. Two or three people did die at the scene of the accident, others died later.

The ambulance came and took her to the Red Cross Hospital, which in those days was on San Jeronimo Street, a few blocks from where the accident took place. Frida’s condition was so grave that the doctors did not think they could save her. They thought she would die on the operating table."

Hayden Herrera describes Frida's bus accident injuries as follows in her book - Frida: A Biography Of Frida Kahlo:

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