School bus safety fear

TASMANIA risks a school bus disaster because of the age of the fleet and the failure to install safety belts, an industry expert says.

Victorian Council of School Organisations bus safety spokesman Leon Hain said he was horrified to learn that old buses were still being used in speed zones from 80km/h to 110km/h.

He will include Tasmanian data in a presentation to a national road safety conference in Sydney on Friday.

The average age of the school bus fleet in Tasmania is 25 years, despite State Government attempts to encourage investment.

"Such buses were built to standards that will disintegrate in a high-speed crash and pupils will become human high-speed missiles deadly to those they strike as well as themselves," Mr Hain said. "It could be an even worse tragedy than Port Arthur."

The number of log trucks on Tasmanian roads should make upgrading more urgent, Mr Hain said. He said Tasmania was 15 years behind in getting rollover protection.

Infrastructure Minister Jim Cox said the bus industry was not using government payments to invest in new buses.

Under a new plan, the Bus Cost Model, bus operators would be given a specific allowance to enable them to buy a newer bus, and if they did not their payments would be reduced.

"It is evident on the basis of expenditure on replacement buses that the industry is currently investing less than half of what it receives from the Government each year for capital investment," Mr Cox said.

He said the new contract payment formula would provide specific funding to ensure improvement of the fleet.

"It will ensure that the funding for bus capital is actually used for an improved bus fleet," he said.

A review of core passenger services had found that there were major inequities in amounts paid to school bus operators.

Mr Cox said there had never been a fatality on a school bus in Tasmania.

Tasmanian Bus Association general manager Geoff Lewis said with Tasmania's 500 school buses doing an average of 95km a day it was difficult to afford to buy a brand new $300,000 bus.

Mr Lewis said new contracts for rural buses from June would lead to purchase of smaller buses. He said the association believed any bus with fewer than 27 seats should have safety belts.

"But it costs $45,000 to retrofit seat belts to older buses and many are not worth $45,000," he said.

The association would like to see routes categorised for safety and the safest buses put on where there was high speed or a windy or dangerous route.

Mr Lewis said research had found the average speed of school buses was 40km/h.

"Anecdotal evidence shows that where seat belts are fitted only 50 per cent (of schoolchildren) wear them," he said.

Mr Cox said there was a problem with getting safety belts appropriately fitted.

"There are also issues surrounding the responsibility of a driver to ensure that seat belts are properly fitted and correctly worn -- including the level of assistance that may be required for small children," he said.