SCHOOL BUSES

SCHOOL BUSES:

(Safety measures and installation of seat belts): 9.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the safety requirements before a bus is allowed to transport students; (b) whether the Ministry will look into enhancing the safety standards for school buses; (c) whether it will require special reinforcing of the vehicle frame before the vehicles are allowed to run as school buses; and (d) whether it monitors the driving performance of bus drivers who ferry school children.

10.

Mdm Cynthia Phua asked the Minister for Transport (a) what steps are being taken to enhance the protection for students while travelling on school buses; (b) what are the interim safety measures to be implemented immediately; (c) why school buses are not required to install seat belts for its passengers; (d) what is the outcome of the review of the requirement of 30 children to an attendant in our school buses; and (e) whether the Ministry plans to impose a guideline of having an attendant for children below the age of 10 in our school buses.

11.

Mr Sin Boon Ann asked the Minister for Transport whether safety belts in school buses are necessary and, if so, whether the Government will consider a financial assistance plan to help school bus operators install safety belts or new seats with anchor points for safety belts so as to expedite the process of implementing safety belts in school buses.

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12.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport what is the cost of installing a safety belt to each seat in a school bus.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to take Question Nos. 9 to 12 together, as they relate to the same topic of seat belts for school buses.

Mr Speaker: Yes, please.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Mdm Cynthia Phua, Ms Lee Bee Wah and Mr Sin Boon Ann have raised questions relating to safety measures in place for school buses, whether seat belts should be installed in school buses and the cost of installing seat belts in school buses. Let me assure them that we share their concerns about the safety of children travelling in school buses.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) already has in place various safety measures for school buses. Every school bus is required to meet vehicle construction and safety standards before it is allowed to be registered here, and is required to undergo compulsory periodic inspections. Buses are subject to a speed limit of 60 km/hr.

School bus drivers are required to attend a training course and take a test in order to be issued a Bus Drivers' Vocational Licence. LTA screens the Driving Licences of bus drivers annually, and will suspend or revoke the Vocational Licence of drivers whose Driving Licences have been suspended or disqualified.

When ferrying young children to and from kindergartens or childcare centres, it is compulsory to have a licensed attendant to look after the children, irrespective of the number of children in the bus. As for buses ferrying older

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children, an attendant is also required if there are more than 30 children being ferried. LTA has reviewed this, and based on its safety assessment, maintains that the current rule is appropriate.

To enhance the safety of children during boarding and alighting, all school buses are required to install hazard lights that are automatically activated when the bus stops to pick up or drop off children. These buses must also have a reflective triangular "Children Crossing" sign with red blinking lights at the rear, to alert other motorists that children could be crossing the road.

Let me now turn to seat belts. LTA's study has shown that seat belts will enhance the safety of passengers who take small buses. LTA has also studied the effectiveness of seat belts for big buses, but found that big buses, by virtue of their design, size and weight, are better able to absorb the impact of a collision than a small bus. This is why countries that mandate seat-belts for school buses usually impose it on only small buses.

Hence, as announced by the Minister for Transport on 17th May 2008, the LTA will mandate that all new small buses must be installed with seat belts. LTA is working out the details with the relevant stakeholders and will announce them soon. As for existing small buses, this is more complicated. They have different designs and seat configurations, and LTA needs to take these into account when working out how best to retrofit effective seat belts in existing small buses. Sir, I would like to reiterate that effectiveness is important as the aim is to enhance safety and not just simply install seat belts. LTA is engaging safety experts and consulting the motor industry, and expects to complete the study in three to six months. Schools, parents and school bus operators will also be consulted

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before implementation because there will be operational implications.

As to the cost of installing seat belts, a set of lap belt costs about $25 each, while a seat integrated with three-point seat belts costs between $250 to $500, excluding the cost of installation. Installation costs vary significantly depending on the design, seat configuration and condition of the bus. The other cost element is the reduction in the capacity of the bus. With seat belts, a seat that could previously seat three children can now only seat two. I would like to inform the House that LTA will work with the bus operators and other stakeholders to keep any cost increase to a minimum.

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Sir, I have a couple of supplementary questions. The question of safety in school buses and the use of seat belt was first mooted some years back in this House. I would like to ask the Minister why it has taken LTA such a long time to come around to the conclusion that safety belts in buses are therefore necessary in new buses that they are going to put on the roads.

Secondly, given the relative low cost, which I understand is the case, of installing seat belt, why can the authority not insist on its use as an interim measure until fuller studies are carried out? We know from the tragedies which just happened a couple of months back that one girl was safe because she hung on to the handle of the seat, while the other child unfortunately died because he did not do so. If there had been lap belts, I think the situation could well have been different and the boy's life could have been saved as well. So, why can interim measures not be given? And if these are very small part of the cost component, why can assistance not be given to existing operators to tide them through this difficult period?

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As for the reduced capacity, there could be reduced income for bus operators. But I suggest that these are measures which are necessary to take into account the safety and the lives of the children. And for future incomes, perhaps we should let market forces decide since new buses are going to have reduced capacity if you want to install seat belts anyway.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, indeed, the question of seat belts for buses had actually been looked at since the issue was last raised in 2006. As Members can appreciate from the various discussions and debates in the media as well as outside of the House, this is a very complicated issue because it is not simply a question of just imposing the implementation of seat belts on buses. There are many issues to be considered because it has implications in terms of, firstly, the technical feasibility, whether, for example, do we use two-point which is the lap belt, or do we use the three-point belt; secondly, the implications for the buses themselves, because not all buses can be retrofitted with seat belts; and, thirdly, the implications in terms of both the reduction in capacity as well as the need to phase-in the implementation for existing buses.

Although the installation cost may sound low, as I have given the numbers, the implications are actually quite tremendous because it relates to whether buses can indeed be fitted out. So, it is not just a straightforward issue of imposing it as an interim measure. Even if we want to do it as an interim measure, we will still have to go through the technical studies of whether all buses can be done so in a straightforward manner.

Mr Sin has raised the question of who should essentially pick up the tab of both the installation cost as well as the

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increase in operating cost per passenger when implemented. While the idea of asking for subsidies may seem to be a rational one, quite apart from the introduction of distortion to what would have been otherwise the correct market pricing for the provision of school bus services with seat belts, there is also the question of equity or the amount of help that families would receive. If subsidies, for example, were introduced across the board, then families in real financial need will actually receive less because subsidies will also be received by families who do not need these subsidies.

Er Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask two supplementary questions. First question: what is the Ministry's stand if bus operators want to pass this cost of installing belts to the parents? I read from some of the response in the newspaper that says that it will increase the bus fares to as much as 50%. Is this increase justifiable, based on $500 per seat belt?

Second question: I am quite disturbed by the response from the bus operators that whenever we talk about safety, they talk about cost. Currently, LTA allows them to carry three students on a bench which is meant for two students when they install a seat belt. So, does it compromise the safety aspect?

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, currently, the provision of school bus services is actually determined directly by the schools themselves, where they would tender out the process and evaluate the school bus operators on the basis of many factors - the quality of services provided by the bus drivers and the attendant, where appropriate, pricing as well as many other issues. And that is something which we would certainly allow the free market to operate.

As to whether there is a justified basis for the operators to pass on the entire

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cost, what LTA would do is to work directly with all the stakeholders to minimise such cost increases. But, at the end of the day, the imposition of the seat belt rule would have cost implications and someone would therefore have to pick up the tab.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I think many people are very worried – like what my colleague here has mentioned – about the cost. They are worried that the school bus operators may take this opportunity now to profiteer by increasing the monthly school bus fares excessively. What measures are in place now by MOT to ensure that any bus fare increases are scrutinised properly and are justified? Will MOT now consider implementing a system similar to the Public Transport Council to review any proposal by the school bus operators to increase fees rather than to just let them regulate themselves?

One more supplementary question. I am sure every single school bus must have its licensed capacity. For boats, if they want to carry so many passengers, they make sure that they have enough life rafts. Likewise, if a school bus is licensed to carry 20 children, make sure that there are 20 seat belts.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, in terms of whether MOT will regulate what school bus operators charge, the current system of schools tendering out the process and choosing bus operators works rather well. I think there is no real reason why the Ministry should now intervene and attempt to regulate these services because the needs of individual schools are actually quite different. The Ministry, through macro intervention, might not actually be able to do that better.

As to the issue of licensing the capacity and the number of seat belts, this will be part of the study that I have referred to, especially for existing buses.

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For small new buses, going forward, the position is very clear. This would be based on the three-point seat belt rule and to be applied to all new buses. The real challenge is actually with the existing buses and we will have to take this into consideration as we review the study.

Mdm Cynthia Phua: Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not understand the Minister's reply on the two-point seat belt as regards the technical requirement per se , ie, to put in a two-point seat belt is much easier than a three-point seat belt. I can understand that for new buses, there is a requirement. The cornerstone of all these arguments is safety and time does not permit you to delay, in terms of the installation. Can the Minister give us a specific date as to when a temporary measure, like the two-point seat belt, be implemented for the existing buses?

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I reiterate what I said just now that for existing buses, the focus is on safety and not just on the implementation of the installation of seat belts. The debate is still open as to whether lap belts provide sufficient protection, and to simply impose this as an interim measure is not wise. Therefore, we would rather have that be borne out through a proper study than to have bus operators and, perhaps, even passengers incur interim additional costs, when the position is still not clear.

Mr Speaker: Last question, Mr Sin Boon Ann.

Mr Sin Boon Ann: Sir, I am just curious to understand the Senior Minister of State's point that it is a question of effectiveness of safety if you put the two-point belt as opposed to three-point belt. Can I just ask the Senior Minister of State if this is actually borne out by any studies as to whether or not this is safe or lacking in safety if you put a two-point belt as opposed to a three-point belt? I would have thought that, whether it is two-point

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or three-point, as long as you can actually improve the safety, even by a margin, because technical constraint of the buses does not allow for a three-point safety belt, then the immediate thing is, as my colleague says, to implement this system first, ensure safety and then talk about the niceties of a three-point safety belt in newer buses as we move along. It has been four years since we discuss this subject in the House. If we had taken effective and immediate steps, then I think a lot of these accidents or mishaps could have been avoided.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, if I may answer the second point first. Essentially, as I said, there is really a whole range of issues and what the Ministry has done was, over the last two years, to narrow it down to small buses and that is by no means a simple conclusion to arrive at. As regards the two-point versus the three-point system, it is still being debated. If one were to assume that, therefore, as a safety measure, to simply go ahead with the imposition of the two-point belt rule, we would actually close out the possibility of school bus operators who may opt to replace the fleet, when we do decide on the three-point belt rule. So to incur additional costs by imposing something as an interim measure, only to settle on the final position later, I think that would be rather unwise.