The recent horrific bus crashes in Victoria and NSW have highlighted an issue Parents Victoria has been campaigning on for many years – seat belts on buses.
The Age covered the issue in an article this morning. According to the article, “Victoria is facing calls to fast-track the replacement of more than 100 regional school buses that do not have seatbelts after two horror crashes that have thrown a spotlight on bus safety.”
Age journalist Patrick Hatch also quoted our CEO Gail McHardy:
Parents Victoria chief executive Gail McHardy said her group had been pushing for more than a decade to make seatbelts mandatory on school buses – especially in regional areas where they travel on high-speed country roads – and wanted it finally implemented.
“It should not take recent events in Australia with fatalities, life-long injuries or near misses to make people in government or private enterprise make sure all buses are fitted with seatbelts,” she said. “We all belt up in our cars, so why not on the bus?”
