Key Points
- NSW Premier Chris Minns stressed seatbelts must be worn if a bus is equipped with them.
- Bus drivers in NSW are responsible for telling passengers to wear seatbelts.
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he could consider mandating seatbelts on buses.
Seatbelt laws are in the spotlight after wine region killed 10 people and injured dozens more.
Police have established that the bus was fitted with seatbelts but have not commented on whether passengers were wearing them, as the crash is still under investigation.
NSW Premier Chris Minns addresses media near the scene of a fatal bus crash in Greta. Source: AAP / Darren Pateman
"If you're asking me more broadly about the wearing of seatbelts on coaches, it's really important that the message go out that if there are seatbelts on buses and coaches in New South Wales, you are legally responsible to wear them," Mr Minns told the ABC.
"You must wear them. It's the law in New South Wales that that's the case, and notwithstanding what's happened in the last 24 hours, that needs to be an unambiguous message to people in the state."
What are the laws around seatbelts in NSW?
As Mr Minns stated, you are legally required to wear a seatbelt if one is fitted to a bus, but buses on regular city public transport routes are usually not equipped with seatbelts.
This means that if those buses do private charters, they won't have seatbelts, but if a bus looks like a coach, it generally has seatbelts, Dr Geoffrey Clifton, Senior Lecturer in Transport and Logistics Management at Sydney University, told SBS News.
"The driver has a legal responsibility to tell passengers to wear seatbelts, and sometimes they'll show a video, but they don't have to force passengers to wear one," he said.
This communication can be done verbally or through visual cues such as signs or stickers.
"The bus company also has the responsibility to make sure that passengers are safe and that the seatbelts are working properly. They need to tell the drivers to tell the passengers to put seatbelts on."
Enforcement, however, is up to the NSW Police.
Dr Clifton said he imagines seatbelt safety will be revisited.
He said it's important to emphasise that bus travel is a highly safe form of transport and that accidents are rare.
In a statement, Richard Olsen, State Secretary of the NSW Transport Workers Union, said the Federal Parliament will be asked to vote on regulation to set enforceable standards in transport, and "we urge them to pass this reform without hesitation".
"The importance of prioritising the safety of drivers, passengers and the broader community is urgent, and this devastating incident underscores the critical need for increased safety measures on our roads," Mr Olsen said.
"We must work collectively to prevent such accidents and safeguard the lives of our community members."
In March 2022, the NSW government said all dedicated school buses on rural and regional bus contracts in the state had been fitted with seatbelts as part of the $237 million NSW Rural and Regional Bus Seatbelt Program, following concerns from parents about the safety of rural roads.
The penalty for not wearing an available seatbelt on a bus is $352, according to Transport for NSW.
What are the seatbelt laws for buses in Victoria?
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the government could consider mandating seat belts on buses after a truck collided with the bus carrying 46 children from Exford Primary School at nearby Eynesbury in May.
Under Victorian law, buses or coaches are not required to have seatbelts unless there is a seat directly facing a front windscreen.
But they must be worn if available, including on school buses.
Since 2013, all state school buses in regional and rural areas have had seatbelts.
More than 1,100 dedicated school buses have seatbelts installed, with all school buses expected to be fitted out by the end of 2024.
First responders have said some of the primary school students in the crash were still strapped into their seatbelts as they were being rescued.
Mr Andrews said the responsibility rested with bus passengers to wear their seatbelts, and changing the onus to drivers could lead to practical issues.
What are the seatbelt laws for other states?
In Queensland, if a bus is fitted with seatbelts, passengers are required to wear them, but a bus driver cannot be breached under the Queensland Road Rules for a passenger not wearing one.
In Western Australia, seatbelts are compulsory on all school buses and must be worn.
South Australia tabled plans to implement a similar policy, but currently, bus drivers are exempt from ensuring passengers under 16 years of age are restrained.
In the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, wearing seatbelts on a bus is compulsory if they are installed.
In Tasmania, TasBus has spent two decades lobbying for seatbelts to be made mandatory on school buses, which they currently are not.
With additional reporting by AAP.
