Front seat belt laws next year
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• A tightening up of safety standards in British coaches has been announced by Junior Transport Minister Peter Bottornley.
New regulations which come into force on 1 October next year will require seat belts to be fitted on most front passenger seats and centre rear seats in coaches, and to the front passenger seats of minibuses and ambulances.
From 1 April 1990 all new single-decker coaches will have to meet a new European safety standard governing the strength of coach roofs. This is designed to reduce the possibility of the roof collapsing in a rollover accident.
From the same date doubledecker coaches will have to incorporate a means of escape from both halves of the upper deck.
Bottomley says: "British coaches have a good safety record, but there is still room for improvement. The Department has been working closely with other countries to improve bus and coach safety. Britain has been in the forefront of development of new standards, particularly those relating to roof strength."
The regulations will require coaches to be built to comply with the European standard for superstructure strength of single deck coaches (UN; ECE Regulation no 66).