Bus drivers may lose big under seat belt law

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - BUS drivers of the Federation stand to lose a significant amount of revenue and possibly their licenses if the recently passed Vehicles and Road Traffic Amendment Bill is strictly enforced against them and their passengers. 

The controversial section of the amendment revolves around the mandatory use of seat belts by all motor vehicles, and states in section 62B (1) that “no person shall operate a motor vehicle unless the driver and any passenger in the front seat of the vehicle are adequately restrained by a seat belt”.

If a driver were to violate section 62B (1), he or she would receive a fine of EC$100 for the first offense, EC$200 for the second and a possible six-month suspension of his or her driver’s license for a third offense within a three-year period. 

SKNVibes spoke to the President of the St. Peters Bus Association, Keithroy Isaac, who said that while bus drivers are happy to abide by the law, they do have some concerns regarding enforcement when there are two passengers in the front seat of their vehicles. 

“It is a positive and a negative at the same time for us. There is sometimes only one other seatbelt in the busses. That is going to be a conflict. The bus driver is going to have to look for another seatbelt [for the centre seat] or he cannot do anything.”

Isaac added that he doubted bus drivers would cease to pick up a second front seat passenger, even if they did not have the appropriate seat belts to accommodate them. 

“The bus drivers have to do what they can to make money, so I don’t know if they would not pick up that extra passenger. We’re going to see what happens because everything has a process,” he said. 

Isaac’s feelings were echoed by the President of the Westside Bus Association, Dale Hughes. 

“It is worthwhile that we buckle up…I was injured in an accident before and if I were wearing a seatbelt I could have avoided some of my injuries. The only way I would have a problem with an officer who wanted to enforce this law is how he would go about doing it.”
Hughes said that many buses are not equipped with seat belts for centre passengers in the front, and even if they are, heat from the engine located directly under that seat can often times destroy “plastic locking mechanisms” in the restraints. 

The Westside President said that he hoped the Traffic Department would work closely with the associations so the law is clearly defined and not unfairly enforced against bus drivers. 

“I recently had a passenger say that she didn’t want to buckle up because she didn’t know anything about the new law,” Hughes said. “These are the kinds of things we have to deal with, and we of the bus association need to have regular meetings with the Traffic Department because everything that is changed directly affects us.”

Despite Section 62B (2a) indicating a possible seat belt exemption for those riding in the passenger seat of a bus, Sergeant Carl Caines of the Traffic Department told SKNVibes that the drivers of omnibusses would in fact be responsible for making sure their passengers buckle up. 

“All of their front seat passengers would be required to wear safety belts,” Caines said. “The driver would be responsible and could receive a citation if there are violations.”

Despite this warning, Caines indicated that traffic officers are not standing at the ready with their ticketing pads just yet. 

“We haven’t given any tickets as of yet, but instead are continuing to inform the public about the law being enforced soon. 

“So far the public awareness programmes have been going well, I believe, because we see more and more people using their seatbelts. And even if they don’t have them on, when they see the police they are buckling up,” the officer stated. 

How the issue of beltless front seat passengers in busses would be dealt with remains ambiguous, but both the Traffic Department and the local bus associations have indicated their willingness to work together and clearly define the issue before tickets are issued.