On The Buses

Seatbelts on school transport

Buses often lack seatbelts as a result of something called “compartmentalisation”. The seat spacing is designed to create small compartments that segregate passengers, so in the event of a collision, passengers are protected by the padded seats and the space around them. The idea is that this design minimises the risk of injury, without the need for individual seat belts.

There seems to be a view that buses are often used for short urban journeys where speeds are low, such as when transporting students to and from school. High speed collisions involving school transport are therefore rare, but when they do occur the potential risk to students can be high given the potential lack of seatbelts.

Back in 2020, following an incident in 2018 where a passenger and bus driver were killed in a bus collision, the Area Coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough published a report on the availability of seatbelts on buses, highlighting some differences between urban travel and longer distance travel. As the coroner pointed out in his report “since 01.10.01 seatbelts are required to be fitted in all new buses, but there is an exemption where such vehicles are designed for urban use with standing passengers.”

Whilst the particular route in the 2018 incident required the bus to travel from/to and stop off in 5-6 urban centres, the majority of the journey took place on a major A-route through rural areas. The speed of the bus at the point of collision was approximately 53mph. Whilst there was no evidence that either death would have been prevented by the wearing of seatbelts, a number of other passengers were injured in the collision.

It does beg the question on whether seatbelts should be fitted on all buses. Schools may consider seeking to ensure that transport agreements are, where possible, entered into with companies which are able to provide seatbelts for student safety. If your school is unfortunate enough to be involved in an incident involving a school bus accident, students and any staff passengers would be able to recover damages for injuries caused in the accident against the at fault driver, whether that be the bus driver or another driver.

Practical steps for schools

Staff and students should be made aware that if seatbelts are available, they ought to be worn, whether this is when boarding home-school transport or when participating in a school trip. The responsibility for ensuring students wear their seatbelts, lies with the supervising school employee.

Schools should have a robust risk assessment and policy in place specifically related to transporting students on buses, coaches, minibuses, which should detail the need for students to wear their seatbelts (where fitted).

Appropriate due diligence should also be conducted on any third-party transport providers contracted by the school.

Please get in touch if you need any support relating to school transport. We can support you to enter into commercial contracts with transport providers and audit existing and/or draft new policies and risk assessments. We can also provide crisis management support in the event of an incident.