Seat Belts on School Transport (Scotland) Act 2017 – Guidance

The Seat Belts on School Transport (Scotland) Act 2017 gained Royal Assent on 19 December.

The purpose of the Act is to improve road safety for school children by imposing a duty upon school authorities to ensure that each motor vehicle which the authority provides or arranges to be provided for a dedicated school transport service has a seat belt fitted to each passenger seat, i.e. one seat belt per pupil.

The Act imposes a duty on Scottish ministers to publish national guidance.

The guidance gives school authorities and other interested parties technical explanations in relation to seat belt fitting and promotes best practice for seat belt wearing and monitoring.

The Act will come into force on 1 August 2018.