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NO QUESTION about it: School buses should be equipped with seat belts and their wearing be made compulsory. These vehicles in use in Singapore are minibuses, not the type of stout buses used in public transport, and passengers carried are all primary school pupils. Unlike heavier big buses in which crash-impact forces are distributed differently, small buses are the near equivalent of big passenger cars and vans in weight and size and therefore, the vulnerability. The need for occupant protection is greater in minibuses. The collision with two cars that killed eight-year-old Russell Koh - flung out through the rear door that had opened on impact - provided graphic proof that seat belts and school bus specifications are related safety issues that should be considered as one. A law will need to be written to force a change in transport convention and to take account of the technical issues, not only on seat-belt specifications but also the design of school buses permitted on the road. It is reported the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been examining the belt requirement for some time but it should widen its scope of study. The clamour for stricter safety standards that has arisen following the accident is not to be mistaken for a knee-jerk response or the shared anguish of parents. Thousands of children are carried every day to and from school.
A practical issue to address is whether technical expertise is available here to have existing minibuses retrofitted with belts. It is not as simple as most people would assume. Which kind: lap belts or lap-and-shoulder belts? If incorrectly installed, relative to seat design, a belt is as good as useless. The wrong sort of belt or one that is worn improperly can lead to head and neck injuries in a crash, experts have declared. Technical standards can be borrowed from foreign jurisdictions with experience gained in crash tests and from accident data. Spring Singapore, the government agency that certifies consumer-product safety, should work with the LTA on belt specifications and set competency standards for workshops that will carry out the retrofitting. It stands to reason that new minibuses ordered from abroad should be customised for school use, with belts included as standard equipment.
Parents will have to accept that school bus fees must go up as a result of these improvements. It is unreasonable to expect the operators to absorb the cost as they face ever rising fuel charges and the cost of hiring attendants to mind the children. They may also be required to have belts checked at specified intervals. The price of safety should be the last thing to raise a clamour over.
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