EU law makes seat belts obligatory in long distance buses and coaches

In May 2006, a new Directive (Directive 2003/20/EC) came into force that extends the obligatory use of seat belts to occupants of all motor vehicles, including trucks and coaches. However, there is an exemption for urban buses which are defined as having designated standing spaces.

The use of seat belts is crucial in the fight to reduce casualties on the roads. It has been estimated that unviersal seat belt usage alone can prevent 6,000 deaths per year in the EU-15. Although there has been a European legal obligation in place since 1991 to use safety restraints for all car occupants, the number of people using seat belts varies greatly between Member States. With the move to extend seat belt regulation to cover trucks and long distance coaches the Commission hopes to ensure greater seat belt usage and reduce casualties.

To bring the new directive into operation, the Commission has proposed changes to the technical requirements making the installation of seat belts compulsory in all seats in all motor vehicles.

This implies amending three existing Council Directives relating to seats (Directive 74/408/EEC), seat belt anchorages (Directive 76/115/EEC) and seat belt installation (Directive 77/541/EEC).

All three proposals must be treated in parallel because modifications in one of the texts have automatic repercussions on the two others.

The Parliament’s Transport Committee discussed on 16 March 2005 the draft Directive relating to seats, their anchorages and head restraints (amending Directive 74/408/EEC).

Among the three proposals, this is the only text that has caused controversy in the past. As in first reading of the proposal, rapporteur Dieter-Lebrecht Koch (EPP-ED, D) rejected the Commission-proposed ban on side-facing seats in certain buses and coaches.

On 19 April 2005, however, on the second reading, the TRAN Committee voted on the package of measures to make seat belts compulsory in all vehicles and decided to agree withe the Council that side-facing seats should not be allowed in small buses and coaches. The committee nevertheless made an exception for conferece buses. The three second reading recommendations drafted by Mr. Koch and Mr. Costa were adopted by large majorities.

Seat belt campaign

Ten European countries have launched a campaign to encourage the more widespread use of seat belts by children.

The Euchires 2005 campaign is supported by the European Commission with 1.4 million euros.

It centres on the "Goochem" or "Armadillo" gadget, a toy, which makes wearing a seatbelt more fun for children aged 4 to 12.

Launched in the Netherlands in 2004, the campaign now extends to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

For more information on related issues see the European Transport Safety Council’s Fact sheet on "Seat Belts and Child Restraints"

Seat belt reminders

Although the tightening of the EUs rules on seat belts is a welcome move, it will have little effect if people continue not to use the safety restraints available to them. How to actually get people to use seat belts is therefore an important issue.

One alternative is fitting cars with seat belt reminders, and this was the topic of a European Transport Safety Council lunch 3 May 2005. A seat belt reminder is a audio/visual signal that reminds people to put on their seat belt. Many new cars already have seat belt reminders, however usually just for the driver or front seats. The challenge then is to get older cars retrofitted with such reminders, and to extend reminders to all seats in new cars.

Another issue is how to get passengers in long distance coaches to use seat belts. Also here reminders of different kinds can be utilised to increase usage. Volvo, for example, provides stickers on each seat, as well as a safety leaflet akin to the one found in airplanes, in its new coaches.