Bus Éireann defends lack of seat belts on buses

SEVEN out of 10 Bus Éireann school buses have no seat belts, the company revealed yesterday.

Following Monday’s accident in which five girls died, Bus Éireann defended its seat belt policy, insisting it was not law to have standard buses fitted with seat belts.

However, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has found that children are up to three times more likely to die in accidents if they are not wearing a seat belt. Bus Éireann caters for 140,000 pupils for school runs every morning and evening.