Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004
449 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Transport the position on the provision of seat belts in school buses; if the Minister has provided a mechanism to monitor such a provision; the guidelines the Minister has put in place in relation to monitoring such a provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8918/04]
View answerThe Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) (Amendment) No. 3 Regulations 1991 require, inter alia, the compulsory fitment of anchorages and safety belts for use by the driver and each passenger in a forward facing front seat of buses up to 3,500 kg maximum weight that were first registered since 1 January 1992. The requirements do not distinguish between school buses and any other buses. Other buses or coaches are not at present required to be equipped with seatbelts either under EU or Irish law.
In 2003 the European Commission published proposals to amend a number of directives relating to the type approval requirements for safety belts and restraint systems, anchorages for safety belts, and seats, their anchorages and head restraints. These proposals provide, inter alia, for the mandatory fitment of seatbelts in all buses and coaches, other than those used on staged-stop urban services, at manufacturing stage for the purposes of obtaining motor vehicle type approval. Under the proposals it would be a requirement for the registration, sale or entry into service of new buses and coaches, from 1 January 2006, that their safety belts and restraint systems, anchorages for safety belts, and seats, their anchorages and head restraints would conform with the technical requirements specified in the proposed amending directives. It is not proposed nor would it be feasible for technical reasons to fit seatbelts to existing buses. It is expected that the proposals will be considered at Council shortly with a view to the adoption of a common position by member states.
The operation of the school transport scheme is provided and operated by Bus Éireann under contract from the Department of Education and Science. In 2002, my Department published a discussion paper on school bus safety to which a large number of responses was received. These are now being reviewed with a view to identifying a cost effective approach to enhancing road safety for school transport.
