Is our school transport safe?

New legislation is to be introduced in the EU by the end of this year to make mandatory the wearing of seatbelts by coach and bus passengers. This is very good news and we applaud this initiative which in our opinion is long overdue. We only have to think about the accident in Ireland in May this year when five teenage girls were killed when their school bus overturned in a collision to realise that this is an absolute necessity.

So what’s happening here in Luxembourg, especially at the European School? Is the security of our children also top priority? This is our experience….

Earlier this year, one of our members accompanied a group of 10 year olds on a school excursion to Trier. She was appalled when she noticed that the children were in a normal bus with no seat belts, travelling at 100 km/h on the motorway. Our colleague then complained to the school (Mr. Feix and Mrs Loueiro) and, as is typical of the European School, received no reply.

We also contacted the Parent’s Association who provide transport for the children to and from school. The reply we received was that according to Luxembourg law it is not obligatory for buses to have seat belts. We pointed out that we knew this already but thought that the Parents Association could insist on having buses with seat belts when concluding new contracts with the bus companies. Do we really have to wait for legislation to do this? Is not the security of our children top priority? No reply as yet to this question from the Parents Association.

However, when it was pointed out to the Early Childhood Centre (now under new management) that excursions were sometimes made in coaches without seat belts, the problem was dealt with immediately. The coach companies were contacted and told to only supply coaches with seat belts. All monitors were instructed to cancel a trip if they ascertained that the coach had no seat belts and also they had to ensure that all children used the seat belts provided.

Yes, the solution can be this simple! So why don’t the others follow this example or are they waiting for the worst to happen before reacting?

If you share our opinion, contact the School and the Parent’s Association – after all, they are meant to be acting in the interests of the children.

So let’s not wait for this legislation to be passed, let’s act now to protect our children!