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SOME parents, especially those with young children, are concerned about the lack of seat belts on school buses.
They say that bus operators should fit their vehicles with belts, for safety reasons. While other parents are not so concerned, a few school bus operators here say they are willing to install the belts.
However, they add, costs would go up.
Among the concerned parents is Madam Lim Hwee Hwee, 32, a tax accountant whose daughter, Dera, four, goes to preschool by bus.
She said: "The children are young and they tend to run about. Even though there is a bus aunty, she can't ensure thatthey don't run about."
Madam Lim Lay See, 34, a housewife whose daughter, Joy, six, also rides on a school bus, said: "School buses should have seat belts for safety reasons, such as if the bus should brake suddenly."
My paper spoke with 10 parents and three school bus operators after a 29-year-old British expatriate contacted the newspaper about the topic.
Her four- and six-year-old sons use school buses, and she would like to see three-point seat belts - not just lap belts - in the vehicles. Such belts are mandatory in Britain.
The three bus operators said not all school buses have belts.
Leong Jin Bus Services has more than 30 buses but only one has seat belts.
Co-owner Madam Kiew Hong Moi said: "We will install seat belts only if principals request it. But if we do so, we will have to increase fees."
Six out of 10 parents interviewed said they would like to see at least lap belts on the buses, and they are willing to pay $10 to $20 more for them.
Only one parent, apart from the reader who contacted my paper, wanted three-point belts.
Said Madam May Tan, 33, a project director whose four-year-old daughter, Abigail, rides a bus: "School buses travel at a slow speed and the distance is short. So a two-point lap belt is enough. To have it is a bonus already."
However, Mr Eric Tan, 42, was among the four parents who did not think seat belts are needed. The service engineer's seven- and eleven-year-old sons take the school bus.
He said: "It is hard to belt the children as they don't like it. The bus drivers are usually very experienced and they drive slowly."
According to the Land Transport Authority's website, there are currently no regulations on the use of seat belts on school buses.
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