The tragedy of the recent M53 motorway coach crash has led to calls from senior coroner, André Rebello, for clarity from the government on the law surrounding seatbelt use on school coaches.

Mr Rebello has written to both the Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Education requesting details on two specific points:

• Advice given regarding the use of seatbelts by either the Department for Education (“DfE”) or the Department for Transport (“DfT”) to schools and colleges when contracting home-to-school “commuter contracts”
• Public information campaigns that are being run about the additional road safety that is provided by the use of seatbelts

A response from the DfT and DfE is required by 30 November (although Mr Rebello may extend this deadline) and must outline details of, and provide a timeline for, the action(s) taken, or proposed to be taken, to mitigate the risk of future deaths. If no action is proposed, justification must be provided.

Mr Rebello makes clear that a distinction on the use of seatbelts should be drawn between “commuter coaches” travelling longer distances via A-roads and motorways on home-to-school services, and when that provision is operated by buses in built-up areas.

The Law

Where seatbelts are fitted on coaches, passengers over the age of 14 are legally required to wear them but what is currently required of operators and/or drivers to ensure that seatbelts are in fact worn?

As the law currently stands, the operator of the vehicle is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that every passenger is notified that they are required to wear a seatbelt at all times whilst the vehicle is in motion, but it is the passenger themselves who commits an offence if the seatbelt is not in fact worn.

The obligation on operators is to ensure relevant vehicles are fitted with seatbelts and that those passengers that are legally required to wear seatbelts are notified of this. There is currently no specific offence committed by an operator or driver where a passenger fails to wear a seatbelt (albeit there may be wider health and safety considerations).

Presently, the law requires operators to notify passengers of the need to wear seatbelts through: (i) an official announcement (made by, for example, the driver or ‘group leader’) or audio-visual presentation made when the passenger boards the vehicle (or within a reasonable time of them doing so); and/or (ii) a sign prominently displayed at each passenger seat equipped with a seatbelt.

Typically, in practice, school coaches display signs regarding seatbelt use at each seat and the driver reminds pupils of the need to wear seatbelts at the point at which they board. In addition, drivers conduct a physical check of every seatbelt fitted to the vehicle (to ensure they are operative and free of defects/damage) as part of their walk-around checks of the vehicle. We would also usually suggest that operators incorporate information regarding seatbelt use and a requirement for pupils to be notified of the requirements in this regard into their terms and conditions when contracting with schools and local councils.

Implications of the Coroner’s Request

The senior coroner’s request makes it clear that he considers more can, and should, be done by those involved in the procurement and provision of home-to-school coach services to ensure that seatbelts are being used.

The questions posed by the senior coroner do seem to suggest that his focus is on the provision of education and information to the users of home-to-school services to raise awareness of their personal obligations to wear seatbelts as well as the safety benefits of doing so; however, the increased focus on seatbelt use has inevitably given rise to concerns about the practicalities for operators and their drivers should any additional obligations on them be considered or suggested - such as a requirement to physically check that passengers are wearing a seatbelt and continue to do so throughout their journey. 

Any such obligation is inevitably going to prove challenging. Whilst it might be reasonable for a driver to check that each passenger is wearing a seatbelt prior to the commencement of the journey, does this remain reasonable in the context of a home-to-school journey with multiple stops? Is the driver to be required to conduct a check to satisfy themselves that each passenger is wearing a seatbelt prior to departing each stop? In addition, ensuring each passenger continues to do so (and that pupils do not remove their seatbelts) throughout the journey may in fact require an additional conductor on board the vehicle to ensure that, for the duration of the journey, passengers to whom the obligations apply keep their seatbelt fastened at all times. Obviously, the additional cost of a second person on the coach would then need to be accounted for by operators in their tenders for home-to-school services as well as giving rise to other commercial and operational considerations.

At present, there are no known plans to amend the legislation surrounding seatbelt use; however, it will be interesting to see how the landscape evolves and what, if any, guidance might be issued regarding seatbelt use to those engaged in the provision of home-to-school contracts as a result of the senior coroner’s concerns. We are aware that the trade associations are currently engaging with their members regarding this matter and we would urge operators affected by this issue to enter that discussion.