Seat belt law passed

All school buses will have to be fitted with seat belts after MSPS unanimously agreed to back the move yesterday.

However, it does not make their use compulsory.

The Seat Belts on School Transport (Scotland) Bill requires local authorities to ensure all vehicles provided solely to transport pupils to and from primary and secondary schools are fitted with belts.

It also applies to private schools and follows a petition lodged at Holyrood exactly ten years ago.

The measure is expected to be introduced at the start of the new school year next August for primary schools and in 2021 for secondary schools.

A total of 18 of Scotland’s 32 councils already require seat belts to be fitted as a condition of school vehicle contracts.