SCHOOL BUSES (Installation of seat belts)

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SCHOOL BUSES:

(Installation of seat belts): 5.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Transport whether his Ministry will legislate that all buses that are used to ferry school students be equipped with a seat belt for every seat given that the annual 50% road tax rebate

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that is given to these buses will have offset the cost of installing seat belts.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked for seat belts to be required on all school buses. Let me assure her that we also share her concern about the safety of children travelling in school buses.

Currently, LTA has put in place a comprehensive set of safety measures for school buses which have helped them to achieve a good safety record. As part of the safety requirements, LTA imposes a strict vehicle speed limit of 60 km/h for school buses and requires the buses to undergo compulsory periodic inspections to ensure their roadworthiness.

LTA also requires all school buses with licensed capacity of more than 30 children to have a licensed attendant to look after the safety of the children. An attendant is also compulsory for all buses carrying young children to kindergartens or childcare centres, regardless of the capacity of the bus.

In addition, since January last year, all newly-registered school buses are required to install automatic hazard lights that blink to warn approaching motorists when the bus stops to pick up or to drop off school children. These buses must also have a reflective triangular 'Children Crossing' sign with red blinking lights at the rear of the bus. Again, another safety measure.

Sir, as a result of these safety requirements, there have been no cases over the past six years of children suffering serious or fatal injuries while travelling on a school bus.

Nonetheless, in view of the recent accident involving a school bus, we have asked LTA to review with the Traffic Police the circumstances leading to the accident and also the need to require the

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installation of seat belts on school buses. Members will appreciate that we need to consider this carefully in view of the cost impact on parents using such bus services. Besides the one-time installation costs, this measure will also reduce bus seating capacity. This is because bus seats meant for two adults are currently allowed to seat three children below the age of 12.

This 3:2 seating ratio would not be possible if seat belts are made part of the regulatory requirement, and this is likely to lead to higher school bus fares.

LTA will also consult stakeholders and take into account other factors, such as other passenger-control measures, accident trends and statistics.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim: Sir, from my understanding of the LTA website, bus operators can request for a 50% rebate of the annual road tax if they can justify that their buses are substantially used to ferry school students. My questions are:

(1) Has there been any misuse of this benefit of the annual 50% rebate by bus operators claiming that they do ferry students while, on the other hand, their buses are being used to ferry operators and so forth?

(2) Since these buses enjoy a 50% rebate on the annual road tax, would these annual savings of road tax not be able to offset the installation cost of the seat belts?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, on the first question, whether there is any abuse by owners of buses while using the 50% rebate, the answer is no, because LTA monitors very closely. The owners of such buses are required to submit a list of the school children they are carrying and this list is then checked with the school to

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make sure that it is a genuine list and not a list of phantom riders.

Sir, on Prof. Ong's second question whether the 50% rebate on road tax would not offset the cost of the installation of seat belts, the 50% rebate is meant to put the owners of these non-school buses on par with the owners of school buses because, as I mentioned earlier, the owners of the school buses are exempted from the COE premiums.

Mr Speaker: Prof. Ong, last question. Be brief, please.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim: Sir, the Minister said that there has not been any misuse. I would like to feedback to the Minister that one of the reasons why the bus actually comes and picks up the kids at 11.15 am is that the bus operator's driver claimed that he had to go somewhere to pick up the factory operators and send them to the factory and, therefore, he has no choice but to come and pick up the kids earlier. So, is the Ministry aware of such practices of the bus transport operators?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, the reason why our school bus fares have been kept so low is the ability of the owners to use their buses for multiple journeys. If they were only to use them for that one trip a day, I am sure the cost of the bus fares would be much, much higher, and this applies to owners of both school buses as well as all owners of non-school buses.