The Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) today called for urgent action to progressively fit
seatbelts on new and replacement school buses on country high-speed routes.
Although it is well known that seatbelts save lives, they are currently not in use in school buses on
high-speed roads in the two most populous states in Australia, Victoria and NSW.
“Protecting our children, our most vulnerable road user group, is vital,” said ACRS President Mr
Lauchlan McIntosh.
High speed school buses include those that travel on single lane country roads, a place where
children are particularly at risk because these areas have less medical resources to quickly and
adequately handle a mass casualty event.
The most recent report by the NSW School Bus Safety Community Advisory Committee recommends
that we start the process of progressively fitting new and replacement country school buses with
seatbelts as they come into service.
The College strongly endorses this outcome.
“We have over 2 million school children in Australia, and with school about to start up again this
issue should be at the top of the agenda for politicians”.
ACRS is the regions peak membership association for road safety professionals and members of the
public who are focussed on saving lives and serious injuries on our roads.