Buses with standing passengers would not be allowed to travel faster than 80km/h under new laws being considered by the New South Wales government, as it commits to a road safety and seatbelt awareness campaign in response to a fatal bus crash this year.
On Friday the NSW government announced it would accept all five recommendations made by its bus taskforce’s initial safety report, based on a snap review after the June bus crash in the Hunter Valley that left 10 passengers dead and 25 injured.
The taskforce recommended that a road safety campaign be rolled out “aiming to raise awareness, change behaviour, ensure compliance with seatbelt laws, address misconceptions, and foster a culture of seatbelt compliance among bus passengers”.
The report also urged the state transport department to consider whether the 80km/h rule, which exists for dedicated school bus services with standing passengers, “could be rolled out across all services”.
Other recommendations include conducting “a thorough examination of the risks” for passengers standing on buses and exploration of risk mitigation for “standees”.
The taskforce also called on the NSW government to continue its program of retrofitting seatbelts on all rural and regional school buses “as soon as possible”. The program is expected to be completed next year.
Another recommendation is for the transport department to consider “how bus operators can be best assisted to comply with their obligation to inform passengers about the mandatory use of seatbelts”.
Australian Design Rules mandate seatbelts are fitted on buses and coaches of certain configurations, but buses that serve public transport routes are exempt due to the need for “frequent stopping, picking up and setting down passengers [and] the need to optimise vehicle capacity to deal with peak periods”.
One of the questions to emerge from June’s fatal crash was the issue of coaches fitted with seatbelts. On buses fitted with seatbelts, drivers or the operator are required to inform passengers that wearing a seatbelt is required by law. But drivers are not legally liable if a passenger does not wear their seatbelt.
The taskforce said that during its investigation “a concerned parent living in the Singleton area reported that her children travelled on a route including 100km/h stretches in a bus without seatbelts”.
“Surely the time has come for children that have to travel to school in buses on rural roads with 100km speed limits to be afforded the same safety restraints that have been compulsory in cars for over 50 years,” the parent said.
The NSW government said it has accepted all five recommendations, and that work has already begun on the road safety and seatbelt awareness campaign. The ads will initially appear on buses and coaches “to ensure people buckle up” and a second awareness campaign later this year will coincide with the peak holiday travel period.
The transport minister, Jo Haylen, said adopting the recommendations was “an important step” for bus safety.
“My heart is with the families and community devastated by this tragedy,” she said. “I’ve spoken to them personally and will continue to let their voices be heard as we work towards a safer future on our roads and public transport."
“We want everyone to remember that seatbelts save lives. If there is a seatbelt available on the bus you’re travelling on, you must use it.”
The road safety advocate John Gaffney welcomed the report, adding: “Wearing a seatbelt doubles the chance of surviving a crash and reduces the risk of injury.”
He said that in NSW each year, on average, 29 drivers and passengers were killed and about 79 seriously injured in crashes while not wearing available seatbelts. “Many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented if seatbelts had been worn.”
