Mum's school bus fears (From Gazette Series)

Mum's school bus fears

A WORRIED parent has called for children to be made to wear seat belts when travelling on school buses.

The mother of a student at Katharine Lady Berkeley School in Wotton-under-Edge has told the Gazette that children are not made to wear the safety devices and she is worried it is an accident waiting to happen.

Her concern was raised following Monday's bus crash in Ireland, in which five girls were killed.

"I have been harping on for a long time that children should wear seat belts and asking for something to be done about it," she said.

"But nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it. In my opinion it is an accident waiting to happen and with the bus crash in Ireland I thought it was a timely reminder that this sort of thing does happen.

"My daughter catches the bus to school every day. I think the bus has seat belts but I don't think they are made to wear them and I have seen children walking around the bus while it is moving. Children don't want to wear seat belts because they don't think it is cool."

She continued: "If you are in a private vehicle and the driver doesn't make passengers wear a seat belt and there is an accident then the driver is liable.

"This should be the same for school buses. Somebody needs to take responsibility for this. Even the older students should set an example to the younger pupils by not making them think it is not cool to wear them.

Gloucestershire County Council spokeswoman Nicola Davies told the Gazette that the law required seat belts to be fitted on all minibuses and coaches.

She said: "On minibuses, the number of children is limited to the number of seat belts fitted to forward facing seats. On buses, children can use any seat and three younger children can share a seat designed for 2 adults and in many cases standing is permitted.

"Responsibility for wearing seat belts rests with the driver on small vehicles but on coaches there is no legal requirement to wear belts."

In response the parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "I think the law needs changing. There is a loophole in the law that needs attention.

"It doesn't make sense that they have seat belts but they do not wear them. I think the drivers and the coach companies should be responsible for the safety of their passengers and do everything they can to make it safe."