OCCUPANT SAFETY
ENSURING SEATBELTS ON BUSES ARE BELTED UP
WHILE BUSES ARE THE SAFEST FORM OF ROAD TRANSPORT, BUS ACCIDENTS STILL CLAIM LIVES EVERY YEAR IN PRACTICALLY EVERY COUNTRY, CALLING FOR GREATER MANAGEMENT OF OCCUPANT SAFETY.
Today, new seatbelt safety systems and alerts aimed at increasing occupant safety can significantly reduce death or injury caused by bus accidents.
In 2020, 13 Australians died in bus accidents. This was a significant decrease over the previous 12 months (38.1% lower) and three years (24.4 % lower), likely because of various lockdowns as a result of Covid-19. The 10 year average from 2010 to 2020 has seen 22 people a year die in bus crashes – nearly 2 a month. Accidents related to mining buses are also a concern. In 2018, a minibus rollover injured contractors travelling from Cook Colliery to BMA Blackwater in Queensland.
Across the ditch, New Zealand has had a spate of bus accidents over the last decade:
- In 2014, an Australian student and teacher were killed and several others injured in a bus crash near Rotorua;
- In 2019, five Chinese tourists were killed in a bus crash also near Rotorua;
- And in 2020, 20 Chinese tourists were injured and two airlifted to hospital, after a bus crash near Queenstown.
WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS WITH BUSES & OCCUPANT SAFETY?
- 1 in 3 bus related fatalities are bus occupants.
In Australia between 1989 and 2010 approximately 0.63 per cent of total road fatalities were suffered by bus and coach passengers. 92 bus related fatalities included school aged children, 32 of which occurred inside the vehicle. Source. - Where the crash is a rollover, fatalities are five times higher than other types of bus crashes.
- Injuries typically are the main impact of bus collisions (rather than death), according to Ian Faulks, NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust’s research scholar, with occupants suffering whiplash and damage to limbs due to a front end accident or being in a rear end collision.
- Mine bus collisions are likely to be more serious as they often occur on routes frequently used by heavy haulage, so the risk of two large vehicles colliding is higher.
All of this highlights the need for buses to have seat belts installed for greater occupant safety.
SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES
Most Australian State Government Transport departments and similar international agencies agree that combining improvements in rollover strength, seat and seat anchorage strength and seat belts will lead to significant reductions in bus fatalities and injuries.
In Australia, seatbelts have been compulsory in cars since the 1970s, which has had a huge impact on occupant safety:
- Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of fatal or serious injury by up to 50%
- Unrestrained drivers and occupants are 8 times more likely to be killed in a road crash – it is one of the leading causes of road crash deaths.
The safety transformation of the bus industry began after the 1989 Grafton bus tragedy, leading to mandated seat belts (Source) on new coaches, improved accreditation schemes, improvements in driver training, and safety awareness programs.
BUS SEATBELT LEGISLATION
NSW has led the way in bus seat belt legislation and provision in Australia. For many years NSW was the only state requiring all imported buses to meet the national standards applicable as at the date of importation if they were to be licensed within NSW as public passenger vehicles. For example, a large bus built overseas in 1988 and imported into Australia in 2008 would have to be fitted with seatbelts throughout. Source.
Around 2015, the NSW government started to install seatbelts in 1,700 rural and regional school buses. Today, many modern charter buses across Australia including mini-buses and school buses have a 3 point seat belt system. Additionally, many state school bodies are calling for mandatory seat belts on all school buses.
In most states, where buses have seat belts fitted, it is a legal requirement for occupants to wear seat belts – although a bus driver is not responsible for ensuring passengers on their bus are wearing seat belts.
However, this does not give the driver, school, charter company or parents peace of mind or confidence that children will be safe.
And, with Australia’s baby boomers entering retirement, there is also growing concern around safety constraints for elderly bus passengers.
OUR OCCUPANT SAFETY SOLUTION ENCOMPASSES:
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MAX-SAFE SEATBELT WARNING SYSTEM™
This system, designed to be retrofitted to bus fleets of all industries, sizes and ages, can notify both the driver and passengers, via audible alarms and warning lights, when a seatbelt is not properly latched – or released while driving.
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OTHER SOLUTIONS
In addition to our seat belt solution, we also offer blind spot monitoring and speed limiting solutions to help minimise accidents and injury to people outside of the vehicles. When it comes to bus safety, pedestrian accidents are even more common than injury to bus occupants.
SGESCO-MAX is committed to keeping drivers and occupants of heavy vehicles – including buses – safe, and reducing property damage.
