Home » News » The accident opened the topic of belts in regular buses. Failure to restrain can result in a fine

The accident opened the topic of belts in regular buses. Failure to restrain can result in a fine

Monday’s accident of the ČSAD Liberec bus with a car in Liberec showed that some injuries to passengers occur completely unnecessarily just because they do not use seat belts. The carrier therefore urged passengers to use them.

The accident occurred after a car drove for unknown reasons in the opposite direction, where it collided with an Iveco Crossway 12m LE bus. The driver and four passengers were injured on the bus, all lightly.

But the accident also opened up a topic that is not much addressed in public transport: the use of seat belts in buses. The carrier’s management therefore urged passengers to use the belts.

“There is a shift in safety in the development of buses,” said Martin Bobek, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “I ask all passengers to wear seat belts, if equipped with buses, as they can significantly reduce the risk of injury in a similar accident,” he added.

Mandatory lanes are not in all buses

According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport, František Jemelka, the obligation to equip buses is given by the so-called “class” in which the bus is included.

“Simply put, the belts do not have to have buses, where the transport of standing passengers is allowed, ie where they only sit, this obligation is – it is class III or B (so-called long-distance or tour buses). For these buses, the obligation to equip all places occurred in about 2004 (for new, newly registered vehicles), before that it was only in the so-called dangerous places, ie for those in front of which there was no other seat, such as boarding, “he said. Jemelka.

For long-distance buses, belts are common, the two largest carriers in this segment – RegioJet and FlixBus – actively draw attention to the obligation to use them when reporting.

Nevertheless, many carriers and manufacturers install belts in regular buses, where this obligation is not. Do passengers on these buses have to be confined?

The Ministry considers that if the bus is marked with a pictogram showing the use of belts, this obligation is. “In the opinion of the Ministry of Transport, everyone is obliged to use this system if the vehicle of categories M2 and M3 is equipped with a restraint safety system,” said Jemelka. Failure to comply with this obligation can result in a fine of CZK 1,500 to 2,500.

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