RETRO-FITTING SEAT BELTS ON COACHES CARRYING SCHOOL CHILDREN

That this House welcomes the proposals of the Government to introduce from February 1998 checks on seats belts into coaches as part of the MOT test and to carry out a one-off check on the quality of the installation of all seat belts fitted in buses, coaches and minibuses; notes that in accidents coach seat belts will be subjected to very high loading; notes with concern that many retro-fitted seat belts in coaches have only been fastened with pop rivets to panels on the side of pre-1988 coaches; notes that many of these panels have corroded away through age and are thus unable to sustain the loading required in an accident; and calls on the Government to specify in regulations that outerseat mountings for such seat belts on pre-1988 coaches should be strengthened throughout the length of the vehicle so as to ensure that the seat belt will be an effective restraint in an accident.