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Coach, bus and taxi: mandatory seat belts?

· transportation
Coach, bus and taxi: mandatory seat belts?

Passengers must also fasten their seat belts on minibuses and buses (categories M2 and M3); no belts instead in the case of local public transport such as buses. Drivers and passengers of cars ignore (or pretend to ignore) many rules of the highway code, first of all those on seat belts : raise your hand if you have ever seen, in normal city traffic, passengers on parking places. behind fasten the seat belts . Yet it is a legal obligation that exposes to the same penalties provided for those who drive. But that's not all: the highway code provides for the obligation to fasten seat belts even for those sitting on minibuses and buses (international categories M2 and M3) [1]. Perhaps, in this case, the legislator could make a greater effort to make the norm clearer and more in line with common language. In fact, the code establishes the following:

«All occupants, over three years of age, of vehicles in circulation in categories M2 and M3 must use, when seated, the safety systems with which the vehicles themselves are equipped. Children must be insured with child restraint systems, possibly present on vehicles of categories M2 and M3, only if they are of an approved type in accordance with paragraph 1 " To understand what vehicles of categories M2 and M3 are, it is necessary to refer to another article of the same highway code know more Best London Airport Transfer Service

- category M2 : vehicles designed to carry passengers, having more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat and a maximum mass not exceeding 5 t;

- category M3 : vehicles designed to carry passengers, having more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat and a maximum mass exceeding 5 t. Therefore, for all passengers aged 3 and over, the obligation to fasten seat belts also applies to buses with more than 8 seats, regardless of the mass. These are, for example, private tourist buses or those for transport for commuters or that make long journeys on Italian territory, connecting cities as an alternative to the train or plane. Obviously, the obligation to use seat belts only applies if the vehicle is actually equipped with it: therefore, if the bus does not have them, no fine could be made to passengers. As regards minors under 3 years of age transported by minibus and bus , these must be insured with restraint systems if the vehicles are equipped with them and only if they are of an approved type.

As for fines for those who do not fasten their seat belts on the bus , the fines for cars remain: from 76 to 306 euros. In the case of minors, the fine is "made out" to the parents, who will be required to pay for it. The law demands, but does not keep. The following paragraph of the same article which requires seat belts to be fastened on buses also establishes that passengers of such vehicles must be informed of the aforementioned obligation (that of using seat belts), when they are seated and the vehicle is in motion, by means of signs or pictograms , conforming to the model shown in the annex to Directive 2003/20 / EC, affixed in a visible manner on each seat . In addition, the above information can be provided by the driver , by the ticket agent, by the person designated as group leader or through audiovisual systems such as video. Needless to say, this is a forecast that remains, in most cases, waste paper. In some cases, seat belts on coaches are not mandatory. These are always indicated by the highway code [1] and it concerns (in addition to the usual case of pregnant women , provided that there is a medical certificate) to the passengers of the aforementioned M2 and M3 vehicles authorized to carry standing and used passengers to local transport and that circulate in the urban area : just to understand each other, regular buses, both public and private. Hence the above three conditions must apply together.

Seat belts on taxis?

The obligation to use seat belts is extended not only to passengers and drivers of buses, minibuses and taxis, but also to "users" of vehicles, generally defined as vans, trucks, and more generally to vehicle categories so far excluded such as:

N1: intended for the transport of goods, with a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tons (t), relating to the occupants of the rear seats;

N2: intended for the transport of goods, having a maximum mass exceeding 3.5 t but not exceeding 12 t; you can read more interest article here http://jeams.mystrikingly.com/