Seatbelts

As some of you are probably now aware there has been a terrible road accident in Costa Maya involving passengers from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships. Twelve people have been killed.

Once again the subject of seatbelts comes up. Should ships use only those companies whose coaches are fitted with belts and should all passengers be required by law (?) to wear them. We are booked on a number of coach trips on our upcoming cruise and this accident certainly makes one think.

I don't know of any bus companies in the United States or Canada have seatbelts installed. They would be a nuisance for drivers to kmake sure people have them on. In jurisdiction where seat belts are the law. The driver is responsible for all passengers to have them on. Most buses are exempt from having them.

In the UK and as far as I know all EU countries, seat belts are required by law on coaches.

In the UK and as far as I know all EU countries, seat belts are required by law on coaches.

The questions is . Are they used or not. In Canada they are required to be installed but the doesn’t enforce their use.

It’s to hard for drivers to enforce their use.

There are seatbelts in all coaches in Iceland. Everyone sghould use them by law but it is not the drivers responsibility to enforce it.

I don't know of any bus companies in the United States or Canada have seatbelts installed.

At least some of the Hampton Jitney buses in NY have them, but no one forces passengers to use them. I have seen ads for seatbelts that passengers can buy and use on any bus: https://www.google.com/search?q=bus+seat+belts+for+sale&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

The coach company Cunard hire to transport people from Lancashire to Southampton, all have seat belts fitted, and the driver always asks the passengers to use them, if they do not use them and the coach is involved in a traffic accident I would assume they would not be covered for any claims that may be needed.

In the UK and as far as I know all EU countries, seat belts are required by law on coaches.

In the UK, coaches (but not buses) made after 2001 must be fitted with seat belts, and they must be worn. But it's the passenger's responsibility to wear them (for adult that is) and not the driver's.

So in reality, most people do not bother.

The coach company Cunard hire to transport people from Lancashire to Southampton, all have seat belts fitted, and the driver always asks the passengers to use them, if they do not use them and the coach is involved in a traffic accident I would assume they would not be covered for any claims that may be needed.��

I wouldn't because whilst the driver can ask you to wear them, they are not legally responsible for your decision not to wear them. So what you are suggesting is that a coach would only be insured if every single person was wearing a seat belt at the time of a crash - which is never going to the case. And therefore, the logical conclusion is that all coaches are driving around uninsured. Which they clearly are not.

I assume the poster means the individual person who doesn't wear a seatbelt would not be insured for injury or death, not the whole coach.

I assume the poster means the individual person who doesn't wear a seatbelt would not be insured for injury or death, not the whole coach.

Good point.

But, for example, coaches normally have a toilet on board which you can use whilst the coach is moving, so there is a legitimate reason for nothing being in your seat and not wearing a seatbelt.

Good point.

 

But, for example, coaches normally have a toilet on board which you can use whilst the coach is moving, so there is a legitimate reason for nothing being in your seat and not wearing a seatbelt.

A lot of airlines suggest you keep your seatbelt at least loosely fastened at all times. Obviously like the coach, if you need to use the toilet you would have to undo your belt. There is simply no way round this other than banning the use of the toilet altogether. Not fun if you were on a longhaul flight !!!

And another thing to bear in mind is that trains do not have seat belts. And sitting in a seat on a train is just the same as a coach seat. From what I've been reading this morning on the subject with the power of the internet is there is not really that much evidence to suggest that seat belts provide any additional projection for passengers. The main reason is that passengers are effectively sat in a small compartment, and it's not very far to the seat in front and that is generally soft and padded.

Of course, that is completely different from being in a car.

When in Europe on tours during a river cruise, the tour person was of course on the bus; all were required to use their seat belt and the tour person made sure they were on. We were told if you did not want to wear a seat belt you would need to depart the bus because the rest of the passengers would like to move on with the tour.

Of course this is different between bus transportation (no tour) and a tour though all buses (both types of transportation) had seat belts.

Safe sailing all!!

From what I've been reading this morning on the subject with the power of the internet is there is not really that much evidence to suggest that seat belts provide any additional projection for passengers. The main reason is that passengers are effectively sat in a small compartment, and it's not very far to the seat in front and that is generally soft and padded.

The main purpose of seatbelts in coaches is not to stop you hitting the seat in front as in a car, but to stop you being thrown out of the coach.

Unlike cars coaches have large windows an in an accident unbelted passengers can be thrown out of the window and then crushed by the coach.

The large windows can also lead to loss of limbs if the coach falls over, which is why more modern coaches have windows with the bottom above shoulder height.

In the UK enforcement of seatbelts is down to the police and not the driver, with the individual passengers being fined if they are not wearing a seatbelt.

The theory of retaining passengers in their seats applies to busses as well as cars. There are numerous videos of bus crashes where people were tossed around like test dummies, one girl obviously badly injured by slamming in to the bus dashboard. Of course we all think it’s not going to happen to us on this bus at this time and many leave brains at home when they travel anyway.

DAVID

In the UK enforcement of seatbelts is down to the police and not the driver, with the individual passengers being fined if they are not wearing a seatbelt.

Indeed it is. But I wonder how many people have ever been fined in the UK ? I'd wager none at all because it's a impossible law to enforce.

The theory of retaining passengers in their seats applies to busses as well as cars. There are numerous videos of bus crashes where people were tossed around like test dummies, one girl obviously badly injured by slamming in to the bus dashboard./quote]

 

We went on a coach tour of the US three years ago. Everyone moved round a seat each day. The driver and tour guide insisted that anyone sitting on the front seat wore their seat belt. Some people were not keen on the front seat and opted to sit elsewhere when it was "their turn" at the front because they did not feel safe. For example, I sat there but Mrs Toad would not join me.