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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic
Management) Amendment (Child
Safety on School Buses) Bill 2012
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic
Management) Act 1999 No 20 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of other instruments 8
b2012-045-11.d13
New South Wales
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic
Management) Amendment (Child
Safety on School Buses) Bill 2012
No , 2012
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 to
make provision with respect to the safety of children travelling on school buses and
to require certain buses to be fitted with seatbelts; and for other purposes.
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
Clause 1 on School Buses) Bill 2012
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) 3
Amendment (Child Safety on School Buses) Act 2012. 4
2 Commencement 5
This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act. 6
Page 2
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 Schedule 1
No 20
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (Safety 1
and Traffic Management) Act 1999 No 20 2
[1] Part 5A 3
Insert after Part 5: 4
Part 5A Child safety on school buses 5
Division 1 Preliminary 6
70A Definitions 7
In this Part: 8
ADR 68/00 means the Vehicle Standard (Australian Design 9
Rule 68/00--Occupant Protection in Buses) 2006 determined 10
under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 of the 11
Commonwealth, as in force from time to time. 12
bus means a motor vehicle: 13
(a) built mainly to carry people, and 14
(b) that seats more than 12 people (including the driver). 15
non-urban road means: 16
(a) an unsealed dirt road, or 17
(b) a road where a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour or 18
higher applies and that is outside the area of Sydney, 19
Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong (that is, the area 20
bounded by the local government areas of Newcastle, Lake 21
Macquarie, Wyong, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Blue 22
Mountains, Penrith, Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown, 23
Wollongong and Shellharbour). 24
operator, in relation to a school bus journey, means the person 25
who is accredited under the Passenger Transport Act 1990 to 26
operate the passenger service that comprises the school bus 27
journey. 28
rural or regional school bus journey means a school bus journey 29
during which the bus travels at any time outside the area of 30
Sydney, Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong (that is, the 31
area bounded by the local government areas of Newcastle, Lake 32
Macquarie, Wyong, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains, 33
Penrith, Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown, Wollongong and 34
Shellharbour). 35
school bus journey means a journey in which a bus is used 36
primarily to carry school children to or from any infants, primary 37
Page 3
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999
No 20
or secondary school (whether to or from their homes or to or from 1
a place visited on an organised school excursion, an organised 2
school sporting trip or an organised extra-curricular activity, 3
including, but not restricted to, an educational course) and 4
whether or not adults are also carried. 5
school child means a student at an infants school, primary school 6
or secondary school. 7
Division 2 No standing on school bus journeys 8
70B Commencement 9
This Division takes effect on 15 July 2013. 10
70C Standing passengers not to be carried on school bus journeys on 11
non-urban roads 12
The driver of a bus that is being used on a school bus journey on 13
a non-urban road must not carry more passengers on board the 14
bus than there are seats on the bus for passengers. 15
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units. 16
70D Bus drivers must take steps to ensure no standing on school bus 17
journeys on non-urban roads 18
(1) The driver of a bus that is being used on a school bus journey on 19
a non-urban road must: 20
(a) direct all passengers on board the bus to remain seated 21
while the bus is moving, and 22
(b) take all other reasonable steps to ensure that no passenger 23
on board the bus is standing at any time while the bus is 24
moving. 25
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units. 26
(2) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to what 27
constitutes the taking of reasonable steps for the purposes of 28
subsection (1). 29
Division 3 Seatbelts required on rural and regional 30
school buses 31
70E Commencement 32
This Division takes effect on 1 January 2018. 33
Page 4
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 Schedule 1
No 20
70F Rural or regional school bus seats must be fitted with seat belts 1
that comply with ADR 68/00 2
(1) The operator of a bus that is used solely or principally for the 3
purpose of school bus journeys must not, if the bus is being used 4
on a rural or regional school bus journey, cause or permit 5
passengers to be carried on the bus unless: 6
(a) every passenger seat fitted to the bus has a reference height 7
(within the meaning of ADR 68/00) of 1.0 metre or higher 8
and complies with the requirements set out in ADR 68/00, 9
and 10
(b) every passenger seat fitted to the bus is fitted with a 11
retractable lap-sash seat belt that complies with the 12
requirements set out in ADR 68/00, and 13
(c) the anchorage for each such seatbelt complies with the 14
requirements set out in ADR 68/00, and 15
(d) every accessory on a passenger seat fitted to the bus 16
complies with the requirements set out in ADR 68/00. 17
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units. 18
(2) For the purposes of determining whether an item complies with 19
the requirements set out in ADR 68/00: 20
(a) clause 2.2 of that document is to be disregarded, and 21
(b) clause 5.1 of that document is to be read as if the words 22
"with a `Reference Height' greater than 1.0 metre" were 23
omitted. 24
70G Rural or regional school bus operator must display signs or give 25
warnings about wearing seatbelts 26
(1) The operator of a bus that is used solely or principally for the 27
purpose of school bus journeys must not, if the bus is being used 28
on a rural or regional school bus journey, cause or permit 29
passengers to be carried on the bus unless reasonable steps have 30
been taken to ensure that every school child who is a passenger 31
on the bus is made aware that he or she is required to wear a 32
seatbelt while the bus is moving. 33
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units. 34
(2) The steps that may be taken to comply with subsection (1) 35
include (but are not limited to) the following: 36
(a) displaying one or more signs stating "You must wear your 37
seatbelt when this bus is moving" that are of such a size 38
and positioned in such a place that every person seated on 39
Page 5
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Schedule 1 Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999
No 20
the bus (other than the driver) can see and read at least one 1
sign, 2
(b) arranging for the driver of the bus to notify school children 3
(for example, through a public address system on the bus 4
or by means of a recorded audio message or video) of the 5
requirement to wear a seatbelt while the bus is moving, 6
(c) such other steps as may be prescribed by the regulations. 7
70H Rural or regional school bus operator must take steps to ensure 8
seatbelts are worn on school bus journeys 9
(1) The operator of a bus that is used solely or principally for the 10
purpose of school bus journeys must ensure that, if the bus is used 11
on a rural or regional school bus journey, the driver takes all 12
reasonable steps to ensure that every school child on the bus is 13
wearing a seatbelt that is appropriately adjusted and fastened at 14
any time that the bus is moving. 15
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units. 16
(2) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to what 17
constitutes the taking of reasonable steps for the purposes of 18
subsection (1). 19
Division 4 School Student Code of Conduct 20
70I Minister to prepare and publicise School Student Code of Conduct 21
(1) The Minister is to prepare a School Student Code of Conduct that 22
sets out the rights and obligations of school students who travel 23
on school bus journeys. 24
(2) The Minister is not to finalise the Code of Conduct unless the 25
Minister has consulted with: 26
(a) parent and carer groups, and 27
(b) BusNSW (the Bus and Coach Association of New South 28
Wales). 29
(3) The Minister is to publicise the Code of Conduct to students who 30
travel on school bus journeys and their parents and carers in the 31
manner that the Minister considers most appropriate. 32
Page 6
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Amendment of Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 Schedule 1
No 20
70J Contents of School Student Code of Conduct 1
The School Student Code of Conduct must include, but is not 2
limited to, the following: 3
(a) a description of the behaviour expected of students on 4
school buses, including some examples of acceptable and 5
unacceptable behaviour, 6
(b) the responsibilities of students, parents and carers in 7
relation to the wearing of any seatbelts that are available, 8
(c) a statement that the wearing of seatbelts, where fitted, is a 9
"condition of travel" and of the consequences of not 10
wearing them, 11
(d) the responsibilities of the driver in relation to student 12
management, including the wearing of any seatbelts that 13
are available. 14
[2] Schedule 2 Savings, transitional and other provisions 15
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 16
any other Act that amends this Act 17
Page 7
Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Amendment (Child Safety
on School Buses) Bill 2012
Schedule 2 Amendment of other instruments
Schedule 2 Amendment of other instruments 1
2.1 Passenger Transport Regulation 2007 2
Clause 89 Passengers to be notified of requirement to use seatbelts in 3
buses 4
Insert after clause 89 (2): 5
(3) On and from 1 January 2018, this clause does not apply in 6
relation to a bus that is being used on a rural or regional school 7
bus journey within the meaning of Part 5A of the Road Transport 8
(Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999. 9
2.2 Road Rules 2008 10
Rule 267 Exemptions from wearing seatbelts 11
Insert after rule 267 (8-1): 12
(8-2) On and from 1 January 2018, this rule does not apply in relation 13
to a bus that is being used on a rural or regional school bus 14
journey within the meaning of Part 5A of the Road Transport 15
(Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999. 16
Note. This subrule is an additional NSW subrule. There is no 17
corresponding subrule in rule 267 of the Australian Road Rules. 18
Page 8
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