Seat belts on school buses

Just The One

I was asking my nephew yesterday if his school bus had seat belts on all the seats. He was saying that they are there but no one uses them and besides, they are way too tight - and he is not that big a guy (2nd year).

Is this just another cock-up by our great government. They bring in these new rules and regulations and then think that the job is done. Has no one told them that they have to enforce this - perhaps by stopping school buses at random and issue fines to bus drivers that have not enforced students to wear the belts?

stevenmu

Just The One wrote:

I was asking my nephew yesterday if his school bus had seat belts on all the seats. He was saying that they are there but no one uses them and besides, they are way too tight - and he is not that big a guy (2nd year).

Is this just another cock-up by our great government. They bring in these new rules and regulations and then think that the job is done. Has no one told them that they have to enforce this - perhaps by stopping school buses at random and issue fines to bus drivers that have not enforced students to wear the belts?

How are drivers supposed to force students to wear their belts when they have more pressing matters to focus on, such as not crashing the bus ?

Tbh, it's a cock-up by the bleeding-hearts who screamed at the government to introduce seat-belts without actually thinking things through.

Just The One

stevenmu wrote:

How are drivers supposed to force students to wear their belts when they have more pressing matters to focus on, such as not crashing the bus ?

Tbh, it's a cock-up by the bleeding-hearts who screamed at the government to introduce seat-belts without actually thinking things through.

right - so it is wrong to have seat belts on buses is it? I am not exactly sure where you stand on this?

Mossy Monk

how the **** are the governement to blame if children don't wear the seat belts?

arseagon

Mossy Monk wrote:

how the **** are the governement to blame if children don't wear the seat belts?

Exactly!! They only way you'll get a crowd of unruly kids to wear seatbelts on a bus would be to have a 2nd person on the bus to force every one of them to do it. And even at that, I wouldn't be queueing up for that job.

Just The One

Mossy Monk wrote:

how the **** are the governement to blame if children don't wear the seat belts?

They are to blame for not enforcing these rules/regulations/laws. There was a load of noise about it recently after the enormity of the bus crashes over the past 18 months.

The Government came out saying that all school buses had to have seat belts. This sounds great but it means **** all if they don't enforce it.

So yes the government are to blame for not enforcing it.

Just The One

markdunne wrote:

Exactly!! They only way you'll get a crowd of unruly kids to wear seatbelts on a bus would be to have a 2nd person on the bus to force every one of them to do it. And even at that, I wouldn't be queueing up for that job.

If that's what it takes then so be it. If they dont wear them they should be thrown off the bus and then the parents will have to find alternative transport for them which can be a lot of trouble.

And these pansy ads that they have on tv about the seat belts are not really any good IMO.

Most kids like to think that they are grown up so how about having the tv ads with a slightly more grown-up approach.

Even hard-hitting ads. Footage of kids (actors) after the accidents - lying on the road crying, broken arms, etc.

oRlyYaRly

Just The One wrote:

If that's what it takes then so be it. If they dont wear them they should be thrown off the bus and then the parents will have to find alternative transport for them which can be a lot of trouble.

And these pansy ads that they have on tv about the seat belts are not really any good IMO.

Most kids like to think that they are grown up so how about having the tv ads with a slightly more grown-up approach.

Even hard-hitting ads. Footage of kids (actors) after the accidents - lying on the road crying, broken arms, etc.

Hands up who doesn't know what happens in a car crash to people who don't wear seatbelts. Everybody? Thought so.

These hard hitting ads are forgotten once the next ad for funky DFS sofas comes on.

If someone doesn't put on their seatbelt, to hell with them! They took the risk and it didn't pay off. They knew what they were doing. I know I shouldn't eat so much Cadbury but it tastes sooo good. People know they should belt up but it wastes precious seconds.

If the seatbelts are on the buses, great! The government has done their job. The rest is up to us!

What- us? We, the PUBLIC taking responsibility for ourselves?! :eek:

It's not the goverment jobs to protect us, but it is their job to make sure we have the option to protect ourselves. And we do have the option to wear a seatbelt on school buses seemingly.

If the issue was that there was no seatbelts, well that's a different story altogether but the problem seems to be with the kids, not the government.

stevenmu

Just The One wrote:

right - so it is wrong to have seat belts on buses is it? I am not exactly sure where you stand on this?

Basically it doesn't matter if school buses have seat belts or not for two reasons.
1: Experts are still divided over whether belts on buses actully prevent more injuries than they cause
2: Kids won't wear them anyway.

The only things really wrong here is that:
1: The bleeding hearts kicked up a fuss and created mass hysteria over belts without putting any thought into it.
2: The government then implemented a completely pointless policy to placate them.

Unfortunatly that seems to be how this country works these days.

Just The One

oRlyYaRly wrote:

Hands up who doesn't know what happens in a car crash to people who don't wear seatbelts. Everybody? Thought so.

These hard hitting ads are forgotten once the next ad for funky DFS sofas comes on.

If someone doesn't put on their seatbelt, to hell with them! They took the risk and it didn't pay off. They knew what they were doing. I know I shouldn't eat so much Cadbury but it tastes sooo good. People know they should belt up but it wastes precious seconds.

If the seatbelts are on the buses, great! The government has done their job. The rest is up to us!

What- us? We, the PUBLIC taking responsibility for ourselves?! :eek:

It's not the goverment jobs to protect us, but it is their job to make sure we have the option to protect ourselves. And we do have the option to wear a seatbelt on school buses seemingly.

If the issue was that there was no seatbelts, well that's a different story altogether but the problem seems to be with the kids, not the government.

so what was the point in installing the seat belts if they are not going to enforce it - seems like a waste of money.

It seems, to me, like they have only half completed the job.

If I am in the car and don't have a seat belt on and the gardai stop me, I get a fine and or penalty points. Are the gardai going to stop school buses and fine the driver/bus company for not enforcing the law? I doubt it. Well, why not? That's what I want to know.

Yes, I know that kids think it is not cool to wear them but surely it is better than ending up dead or paralysed for life. I think that is the message that really needsto be driven home to them.

bonkey

Just The One wrote:

so what was the point in installing the seat belts if they are not going to enforce it - seems like a waste of money.

Can they be held liable for not forcing the kids to wear the seatbelt, or does it mitigate their (legal, or moral) liability if someone is hurt while not wearing the seat-belt?

It seems, to me, like they have only half completed the job.

Arguably, they have completed their job. As far as I'm aware its not a legal requirement to wear seatbelts as a passenger on a bus...but I may be wrong on that one. So they're arguably compliant with the law and additionally going the extra step of providing (optional) seat-belts for safety.

If I am in the car and don't have a seat belt on and the gardai stop me, I get a fine and or penalty points.

It is a legal requirement to wear seat-belts in a car. This is, I believe, the distinction.

Yes, I know that kids think it is not cool to wear them but surely it is better than ending up dead or paralysed for life. I think that is the message that really needsto be driven home to them.

I dunno what its like these days, and I accept that not all routes are the same, but the driver on my school bus had enough of a job minimising riots (literally) from the large amount of messers.

If the driver were to refuse to drive and/or kick kids off for not wearing the belts, there'd be no shortage of parents complaining about the impact on their child's education or the dangers of just ejecting a child, unattended, at wherever one happened to be.

Just The One

bonkey wrote:

If the driver were to refuse to drive and/or kick kids off for not wearing the belts, there'd be no shortage of parents complaining about the impact on their child's education or the dangers of just ejecting a child, unattended, at wherever one happened to be.

Other comments I take on board.

I am not suggesting that the driver just abandons the child on side of road but when it comes to the bus stop he can say that he will have to find alternative transport if he/she is not willing to follow the safety rules of the bus etc.

Sure, parents would be up in arms about it but I think that they would need to address this with their children and talk to them about the dangers of not wearing seat belts and lead by example too.

Red Alert

School buses aren't rally cars, in fact you've about as much protection in a bus as you're going to get.

I hate it when idiots who know nothing about buses act like they know everything and think that 'obviously seatbelts are needed' when they phone Joe Duffy.

Fajitas!

Just going back to the first post, the seat belts are plenty big enough, I'm 6"4 and built to match, and they fit me.

If the kid dosn't wear a seatbelt, and gets injured in an accident, it's Bus Eireanns fault.

If a bus driver asks the passengers to wear seatbelts, they refuse. If he kicks them off the bus, all hell breaks loose because the service was paid for. Whatever happens, the driver gets the blame.

The school bus situation is a load of me dickie tbh.

mayhem#

Around here there's not a feckin bus with seatbelts installed....

E.

No idea, but I saw the ad on TV yesterday saying 'if there is a seat belt - USE IT!' So, OP, is the Government still doing nothing?