‘Decades behind’: Alarm over Qld school bus safety

Queensland’s motoring body has slammed the state’s lack of action over a safety feature on school buses, saying it is almost 20 years behind other states, as terrified parents voice their concern.

RACQ has joined concerned parents calling for buses to be retrofitted with seatbelts. Picture: iStock

Queensland’s motoring body has slammed the state’s lack of retrofitting school buses with seatbelts, saying it is almost 20 years behind other states.

RACQ has joined concerned parents calling for buses to be retrofitted with seatbelts after a string of accidents on the Bruce Highway.

RACQ’s head of Public Policy Dr Michael Kane said the state needs to be doing everything it can to keep kids safe, especially those on rural school buses who don’t have seatbelts.

“There’s no reason why Queensland school kids should have lower safety standards than other Australian kids,” Dr Kane said.

“It’s worth noting that Western Australia first moved to announce seatbelts would be introduced on all school buses in 2005, so that’s nearly 20 years ago that WA decided that it was important enough to protect kids.”

He said new buses that were brought in to Western Australia had to have seatbelts on them.

“It’s a long way behind. Western Australia is a large state with kids in regional areas and travelling on buses for long distances and long times, and they’re often travelling on roads that are substandard,” he said.

“So clearly this needs to be addressed, and rural school buses should be the immediate priority.

“The issue is, we’ve been bringing in, or we’ve been having school buses into regional areas brought into Queensland without seat belts.”

RACQ’s Dr Michael Kane. Picture: Tara Croser

Dr Kane said such an overhaul could not be done overnight but if it had started 20 years ago the job would be done.

Parent Alistair Brown said his kids travel the Bruce Highway by bus every day and he was terrified for their safety.

Earlier in the year three people were killed and dozens were injured on a Greyhound Bus travelling the Bruce Highway near Gumlu when it drifted onto the wrong side of the road.

“We’ve felt uncomfortable about the situation that our two boys get on a bus with no seatbelts, travelling 100kmh down a busy highway that’s sort of littered with accidents,” Mr Brown said.

“Unfortunately across the state, it’s not a matter of if another accident will happen. It’s a matter of when.

“So we’re just absolutely imploring the Queensland Government to make sure that there’s not another tragedy where there is a significant, major accident with a bus.”

Mr Brown said children as young as five shouldn’t be allowed to get on school buses.

“It is the most bizarre thing that you can, on one hand, say that it’s just the most important thing that a seatbelt does save lives, and then, on the other hand, allow our most vulnerable children to get on a bus without one,” he said.

“We already know it’s like five times safer if they do have a seatbelt that they can put on.”

ACRS Member and CEO of Kidsafe Queensland Susan Teerds said there was nothing stopping the Queensland Government from mandating seatbelts on school buses.

“Funding needs to be allocated to retrofit school buses on rural and remote routes,” she said. “We know seatbelts save lives and seatbelts are compulsory in all vehicles, so to exclude school buses is simply unacceptable”.

Kids Safe CEO Susan Teerds. Picture: Liam Kidston

A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said they were committed to ensuring the safety of all passengers travelling on the public transport network.

“In Queensland, bus operators can choose to purchase a bus that has seatbelts installed and may be eligible for funding to cover the costs of doing so,” he said.

“TMR mandates passenger seatbelts for school buses travelling on long, steep and very steep roads and funds 100 per cent of the costs of installing seatbelts on these buses.

“Funding of 50 to 100 per cent is also provided for seatbelts to be fitted to buses carrying school students on high-speed roads.

“Around 88 per cent of new school buses funded through TMR’s School Bus Upgrade Scheme over the last five years have had seatbelts fitted, with the number growing every year.”

An Opposition spokesman said: “Should the LNP form government after the October election it would seek full transparency on the cost and timeline of any possible rollout.”