Seat belts made compulsory on European tour buses

Seat belts will have to be used in all seats in tour buses and vans across the European Union, the European Commission said in a new directive presented today.

The measure is designed to help meet EU target of halving the number of road deaths by 2010.

The directive also requires children less than 135cm tall to be restrained in cars by a seat adapted to their weight.

“The non-wearing of safety belts is still quite pervasive in Europe,” said EU spokesman Stefaan De Rynck, adding that in some EU countries as many as one third of passengers in front seats do not use seat belts.

Some 41,600 people were killed in road accidents in 2005 in the EU, a decrease of about 17.5 per cent from 2001, according to the latest EU figures. People between the ages of 18 and 25 accounted for 21 per cent of all fatalities in 2003.

The EU started tightening regulations on seat belts and bus safety after two serious bus accidents in Hungary and France in 2003 that killed a total of 61 people.

It has already banned side-facing seats in small buses and coaches.