Commentary on Sections Section 1 – Duty to ensure seat belts fitted on dedicated school transport services
6.This section imposes a duty on “school authorities” – that is, education authorities, the managers of grant-aided schools and the proprietors of independent schools – to ensure that seat belts are fitted to every passenger seat in every motor vehicle which is used in a dedicated school transport service (i.e. one belt per pupil).
7.The framing of the duty includes both vehicles that a school authority owns and directly provides for such a service and also vehicles which are indirectly provided via contractual arrangements with a third party transport operator, something which is very common in practice with education authorities in particular.
8.In order to fulfil the duty imposed by this section a school authority which does not currently use vehicles with seat belts for such provision would have the option of choosing to “retrofit” vehicles itself – or alternatively, to use, or contract for the use of, vehicles that already have seat belts fitted.