Seat belt use directive comes into force... or does it?

Children shuttled to schools in minivans are from today legally required to be buckled up but if this law were enforced "pandemonium" would ensue, according to the Minibus Cooperative whose vehicles are used on the school run.

An EU directive on seat-belt use in school transport comes into force today. However, if it were to be followed to the letter, parents and minibus drivers would be in a fix as it would limit the vehicle's capacity to a number of children below than that carried on many vans at present.

The directive came into force on May 9, 2006 but Malta got a two-year extension to give service providers time to implement the law. It was transposed into the island's legislation last July.

Several parents concerned for their children's safety have been anxious to see the regulations come into force. It appears that matters are not quite as straightforward, with the directive listing a number of exemptions that further complicate matters: Minivans which have been manufactured without seatbelt anchorages are not legally bound to instal seat belts and larger buses are also exempt.

The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) said that all red minibuses and white windowed vans put into service for the first time during or after 1997 were automatically fitted with seat belts. However, it could not say how many of the over 400 minibuses in operation were legally bound to install seat belts.

Minibus Cooperative chairman Charles Mercieca explained that, the way things stood, minivans were allowed to carry more children under 10 than the designated number of seats because two could fit comfortably in one seat if they were not buckled up.

"If the law had to be enforced before this scholastic year ends, there will be pandemonium because if a driver of a 14-seater van is carrying 17 children, what does he do with the remaining three, leave them behind," he asked.

"Everybody will have to realise that if we carry fewer children the fee parents pay will have to go up," he added.

When it was pointed out that parents were worried about their children's safety, Mr Mercieca said he understood their concerns. However, there were times when parents pooled together to shuttle the children to school and squeezed five to seven in a car, which was not exactly safe practice. Mr Mercieca questioned whether it was wise to impose this directive when there was just a few weeks to go before schools broke up for the summer holidays.

"We tried to raise these issues several times with the previous minister. We had also asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister but it seems we're not important and we have been ignored. Our members are very unhappy with the present situation," he said.

Mr Mercieca said the increased fuel prices and a drop in business were among factors seriously hitting the livelihood of the cooperative's 300 members who owned 404 minibuses.

When the directive was announced in May 2006, European Commissioner Jacques Barrot had said: "I'm convinced this measure will save thousands of lives and help meet the target of halving the number of deaths on the roads by 2010".

In Malta, an extensive National Audit Office report in 2002 on school transport found that users gave the minibus service a relatively high satisfaction rating.

Alfred Mallia, the Education Ministry's director of operations, said there were some 800 routes, which meant 1,600 bus journeys a day, and, given the proportion of trips, incidents were rare.

Vince Micallef Pulé, who heads the Public Transport Directorate, recognised the problems that existed and said that, while child safety was an overriding priority, there had to be a balance between enforcement and being practical, at least until this scholastic year was out.

The situation is similarly unresolved in other countries. In the UK, for instance, school-age children were transported in a variety of transport, including vehicles without safety belts, the ADT pointed out.