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Should buses have seatbelts?
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Janet Brown | Email news tips to Janet
1/3/2013

Sunday's bus crash in Oregon raises questions about whether seatbelts in buses should be mandatory.

TransLink's issued a statement saying Coast Mountain buses are exempt under the Motor Vehicle Act from having to provide seatbelts for passengers, with the exception of a belt for the wheelchair position and driver.

The reason?  It's the 'job' transit buses do: generally providing short trips with passengers frequently getting on and off and many of them standing.

The seatbelt exemption is dependent on buses having 'hand-holds and seat bars.'

Standees also increase bus capacity by about two times the number of seats.

 


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  • 11
  1. AnneH_4 posted on 01/03/2013 11:03 AM
    Why must people now want to pass laws and achange things because of one incident - soon we will have no trees left what with having to cut them down to report the law changes.

    Enough already of knee jerk reactions please!
    1. WDW1 posted on 01/03/2013 01:03 PM
      @AnneH_4 I guess none of your loved ones were hurt in this incident. How many should die before you would accept changes? Clearly 9 is not enough.
  2. BOBF_5970 posted on 01/03/2013 11:16 AM
    i beleive that school buses and longhaul buses such as greyhound and tour buses should have seat belts. airplanes have seatbelts.
    1. DavidSB posted on 01/03/2013 01:09 PM
      @BOBF_5970 strongly agree. Anything that gets up to highway speed should probably consider it

      I'm thinking a smart bus company would add them and then use it as a selling point
  3. michael_4092 posted on 01/03/2013 03:56 PM
    Ya sure, seat belts would be great! Another thing that bedbugs can attach to and everyone bring them home with them depending on which bus route you take.
    1. WDW1 posted on 01/03/2013 06:45 PM
      @michael_4092 Seriously!
  4. rossj_9294 posted on 01/03/2013 07:08 PM
    I drive a car because there are too many people coughing in the face of others and picking their noses, etc. and wiping their little treasures onto the seats, poles and handles of the buses and trains. Since I started driving again about 5 years ago I haven't been sick. Now some people want to have seat belts on transit? What if you don't buckle up, does the driver refuse to move the bus or you get a fine? Just one more dirty object to get sick from if this stupidity goes through.
  5. JohnS_4384 posted on 01/03/2013 10:12 PM
    Who would enforce the wearing of seatbelts on public transit anyways?
  6. KenS_7191 posted on 01/04/2013 09:22 AM
    Seatbelts on public transit isn't on the radar. It was suggested for long haul bus routes - the likes of Greyhound or tour buses.
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