School bus crash - seatbelts were requested 6 years ago

Ina · School bus crash - seatbelts were requested 6 years ago

Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:50 pm

This is north Scotland link
Quote:

The parents of children involved in a dramatic school bus collision had been campaigning for six years to have seatbelts fitted on the vehicles, it emerged last night.

Three children from Netherley Primary School in Aberdeenshire suffered head injuries when their school bus collided with a 28-tonne articulated lorry on the B979 Maryculter to Stonehaven road at around 8.30am yesterday.

The single-decker, 24-seater Stagecoach bus, which had 11 pupils on board at the time, was not fitted with seatbelts.

Children were flung through the air as a result of the impact with the Sauchen-based RA Howie lorry, close to the Insch of Ury junction.

Two boys aged seven and nine and an 11-year-old girl were taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with head and face injuries. They were in a stable condition last night.

The driver's side of the bus was severely damaged and shards of glass were sprayed into the vehicle, which ploughed through a stone wall and ended up on a small embankment.

Parents said last night their children were "very lucky" to be alive, as it emerged they have been asking Aberdeenshire Council for six years to ensure school buses have seatbelts.

Council policy states that operators on school transport services must adhere to legal requirements, but the majority of buses are not required by law to have seatbelts fitted.

Buses with 16 seats or fewer are required to have seatbelts but the vehicle involved in yesterday's incident, which is also used by members of the public, had 24 seats.

Netherley Primary School board chairman Stephen Davies said he hoped the local authority now felt "embarrassed".

Mr Davies, whose seven-year-old son was one of those injured, said: "It could have been so much worse because the bus had not been fitted with seatbelts and if it had tipped over there could have been fatalities.

"We have been on about seatbelts on buses for years and I have been involved in it for six years. I would like something good to come out of this."

Another Netherley parent, whose two daughters were waiting for the school bus when the collision occurred, said the issue would be discussed by parents.

She said: "I'm just so thankful that no one was seriously hurt. It is definitely something we will think about but whether it will make a difference we do not know."

Mother-of-two Clare Leask has also been urging the council to make changes to its policy.

She is one of many parents at Edzell Woods who have been driving their children to school at Luthermuir.

She said: "What is it going to take to make all school buses have seatbelts? Why is Aberdeenshire Council not doing anything about it?

"There is always the chance that it is going to happen when they are not fitted and unfortunately this has happened."

Safety organisations and north-east politicians also called for seatbelts to be fitted in light of the collision.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "We would hope that any school transport is fitted with a seatbelt. A seatbelt on every seat and in every vehicle is what we would like. It is safer if you are restrained in the event of an accident."

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MSP Mike Rumbles said seatbelt law was reserved for Westminster, but he called on bus companies to take action.

He said: "I would call on all our bus companies involved in school transport in the area not to wait for a law change and to do the right thing before another accident occurs."

The B979 road at Netherley was closed until 2.30pm following yesterday's accident and investigations are continuing into the cause of the crash.

Two ambulances, one paramedic crew and three fire and rescue appliances from Stonehaven attended the scene.

Most children had got out of the bus by the time the first rescue crew arrived.

Grampian Fire and Rescue station officer John Strachan said the young passengers appeared to have been very lucky. He said the bus could have toppled over, resulting in a "disaster" with fatalities involved.

"The children were very, very shaken and there was quite a lot of blood about them," he said.

Inspector Jim Gordon said: "It appears that both vehicles were travelling southwards and it would appear that the bus was turning right at the junction and the lorry has collided with the bus.

"Thankfully on this occasion it would appear that everyone has escaped serious injury."

Neither driver was injured.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said last night: "The council's policy on the provision of seatbelts on school transport services requires operators to adhere to legal requirements.

"The majority of buses, including the one in this incident, and which are defined as vehicles over 7.5 tonnes and not capable of more than 60mph, are not required by law or council policy to have seatbelts fitted."

A spokeswoman for Stagecoach said that it was not a condition of its contract with the council to have seatbelts in its buses.

Hauliers RA Howie declined to comment.

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WildGarlic
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:55 pm Post subject:

I hadn't realised that seatbelts were not a legal requirement on school buses. I actually think that seatbelts should be compulsory on ALL buses, particularly on our country roads where buses can travel at much higher speeds than they do in city centre conditions.

This is a Westminster matter then... don't you find it confusing as to which matters are dealt with by the Scottish Parliament and which are Westminster's responsibility?

Thank goodness that there were no serious injuries... but their lives should not have been put at risk in the first place.

I'm going to double check on the situation for my son's school transport and if there are no seatbelts on this I'd rather take him into school myself.

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PurpleDragon
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:43 pm Post subject:

The kids take mini buses to our local school and they have seat belts fitted. None of them use them. You see the bus coming along the road to school, and the kids are all standing up ready to be first off the bus when it stops.

It does my head in.

We use the same company for school trips, and you see the Mums staggering up to the buses with car seats and so on for the kids to use. When the Mums go, they always insist their kids are strapped in.

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Tomsmum
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject:

This bus is the one that later in the day is the Stonehaven town service which we cach on a regular basis. it is a brand new bus - but no seatbelts fitted at all.

I agree it should be the law to fit them
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Baldowrie
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:35 pm Post subject:

My kids use the local taxi firm which often has a mini bus BUT the drivers always make sure they belt up as the local council are very hot on it and will remove the contract.

I think the crash highlights the need for seat belt to be compulsory, but it should not take an accident to do that.
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welliebird
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:13 pm Post subject:

Yes I agree that seat belts should be fitted in School buses - the problem which this then throws up is that the driver of any vehicle is legally bound to enforce the wearing of seat belts if they are fitted. How many bus drivers would be willing to run up and down the aisle at every stop to ensure all children are wearing their seat belts? I think not many
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PurpleDragon
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:38 pm Post subject:

Most kids just need told.

My kids have had seatbelt wearing drummed into them so much that they don't feel safe if they don't have one. If they are on the train or bus with me, they comment about not having any.

If a child is on his/her way to school, and the rules say they have to wear a seatbelt on the bus, then 9/10 they will wear one. Kids do generally obey the rules.

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WildGarlic
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:30 pm Post subject:

I think most YOUNG kids will do as they are told... it's when they get to that 'invincible' teenage time that they are more likely to rebel... "I don't need a stupid seatbelt, they are for idiots" kind of attitude.

It's an automatic thing to do for all of us in our car... belt up in the back!!! Modern cars have sensors for the front seatbelts at least...so if these were fitted on the school bus this might help the enforcement some way.

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Townie
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:46 pm Post subject:

There are no seat belts fitted to our kids school buses! (just asked l.t.s.)

I run them to school in the mornings on my way to work.. but they both get the school bus home.

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PurpleDragon
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:23 pm Post subject:

WildGarlic wrote:
I think most YOUNG kids will do as they are told... it's when they get to that 'invincible' teenage time that they are more likely to rebel... "I don't need a stupid seatbelt, they are for idiots" kind of attitude.

Yes, you're probably right. When we lived in Australia it was already law to wear seatbelts from and rear of the car. I don't ever remember taking the bus there though.

When we came back here, we all automatically did it. I was a habit. It took ages of ridicule from my friends to break me of the habit, and I never did feel safe in a car when the habit was broken.

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Sassinak
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 1:05 pm Post subject:

I hate wearing my seat belt in the Trooper. I am quite short and I think it was designed for a large man. When I pull the seat forward so that I can reach the pedals the seat belt rides up onto my neck which can be quite sore after a long drive. I keep thinking I must look for an adapter of some sort for it.

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welliebird
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:02 pm Post subject:

I know what you mean Sassinak, I too am rather short and seat belts do tend to irritate - however, I had a very serious accident in my 20's and if I hadn't been wearing my seat belt, I wouldn't be here today. I will not even go to the end of the drive without mine on!

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monkey nuts
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject:

My OH is a bus driver and sometimes does the academy runs. He will tell you himself that he finds it really difficult to get the kids to sit down let alone wear a seatbelt. He has stopped the bus on numerous occasions to enforce the 'sit down now'. It supprises me how these kids dare to do anything else, he is a 6ft tall, big built ex-military man and when he yells.... I sit!!!!! I work with kids and there aren't too many of them left that respect rules or their elders unfortunately.

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WildGarlic
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:58 pm Post subject:

A North-east politician has stepped up a campaign to make sure all school buses are fitted with seatbelts. SNP MSP Maureen Watt has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling for a members debate on legislation covering seatbelts on school buses. Her request follows a crash in December last year between a Stagecoach bus and lorry in which three Netherley Primary School pupils received head injuries. Current legislation does not require all school buses to be fitted with seatbelts. The motion calls for a debate on the issue in order that the Scottish Executive make representations to the Department for Transport to review legislation on the reserved issue.

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