Even though you've gone through the right hoops I still wouldn't trust the parents not to try it on. People are "a bit funny" (aka protective) when it comes to someone else hurting their child. What ever has been said in the past goes straight out the window.
I guess you have to keep speaking to the parents, maybe draw up a form letter to send to persistent offendors parents explaining the law(*) and that you cannot/will not accept any liablity or any fines etc... and maybe if you incur any costs you will be chasing them for those costs.
(*) I wouldn't be at all surprised if the parents don't know what the law actually states or only have a vague, possibly incorrect, idea.
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E
EMB
The law here is even more stupid. Seatbelts have been compulsory for about 3 decades. But... if the vehicle has 10 or more seats including the driver it is classed as an omnibus and doesn't require seatbelts and is allowed to carry anyone be they adult or child (in seats facing forwards, sideways or backwards.
In an even further act of lunacy there is a ridiculous law (which AFAIK is still valid) which states that 3 primary school children can legally fit into 2 adult sized seats.
H
hugh
Bit like training a dog really.
J
John Williamson
We banned that here a few years ago, along with making it compulsory for
*all* large passenger carrying vehicles except stage carriage buses to have seat belts fitted. The first ones fitted were just fastened to the existing seats by wrapping round the seat frame, which was often fixed by bolts through the plywood floor. Not exactly the most secure fixing....
In the last couple of years they've had to comply with rules for strength & security.
The main impetus for the rules came after a school minibus with side facing seats was involved in a crash which killed a few of the kids. That crash also highlighted the fact that some teachers were doing a full day's work supervising the kids, then driving long distances afterwards, so there was a tightening up on the working time rules for such operations. The teacher who was driving had been working for about
17 hours at the time of the crash, IIRC.
As a coach driver, I find that insisting they wear the seat belts at least stops them running up & down the aisle of the coach. It's not exactly easy to check if they're wearing the belts, but if they're not sitting down, then it gives me an excuse to have words. If there are teachers present, then it's their responsibility, & most of them are
*very* strict about it nowadays. That's council & school rules as well as the law of the land. It helps that if the kids are under 14, the teachers are the ones that have to pay the fines. ;-)
T
Tom Woods
Hmmm. I never knew 'omnibus' had another meaning than the paper type! I shall look out for omnibusses from now on!
J
John Williamson
It may not work for your particular trips, but if I notice them not wearing the belts, I just stop in a safe place until they put them on. If they're on the way home, they won't want to hang around. I find with most routes, it takes a couple of days for the message to sink in, & after that, peer pressure starts to work. I very rarely have to say anything, & after a while, just coming off the throttle works wonders.
The worst route I had, it took a week for them to realise they were getting home late every evening. I don't care how late I get to the end of the route, I get paid by the hour....
L
Lizzy Taylor
Listen to the preview of "Transport of Delight":
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Lizzy
D
Dave Liquorice
Dogs learn a lot quicker and don't constantly push the boundaries once they have been set.
I
Ian Rawlings
Yeah but on the plus side, kids don't crap on the floor so often.
D
Dave Liquorice
Ours (the kids) have never craped or peed on the floor, vomit yes. The cat however crapped, peed, vomited and eats her captors but doesn't learn that this is not acceptable behaviour. Cute but disgusting things cats.
E
EMB
Jeezus that brings back childhood memories - and I still know all the words.
I
Ian Rawlings
When I was at uni someone came round to the house I was staying in and bought a screwed-up dog with them, which dropped a wet, steaming s*it on the carpet on the way out. They just left it there and my housemate (whos friends had bought the dog round) left for the weekend, after which I noticed the s*it. I stomped off in a huff for a bit and when I came back to clean it up, I found it half-gone with my cat sitting next to it looking up at me with big eyes, munching away on the s*it. At first I thought "how disgusting", but then thought "how convenient", and left her to polish it off and lick the carpet clean. I had to put her outside afterwards though when she came purring up to me with the most stinky breath ever.
T
Tom Woods
My parents have a cat which we have always considered to be incredibly stupid (nice but dim). They were away a few weeks back and it managed to get shut in the upstairs of their house for 48 hours. During this time it managed to do all of the above - but managed to do it all in the bath. Cleverest thing its ever done! (and i cant imagine it will manage to surpass this!)
A
Austin Shackles
On or around Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:15:29 +1300, EMB enlightened us thusly:
we used to have that one. Caused a lot of hassle when they changed it and you could only get 52 kids on a 52 seater, rather than about 75.
A
Austin Shackles
On or around Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:20:20 +0000, John Williamson enlightened us thusly:
Or you, if there aren't any teachers. My issues are with the over 14s, I'd prefer they stayed sitting down and wore belts.
Mind, one of them fell over and hit their knee on the seat, yesterday, affording me a perfect "I told you" moment :-)
You'd be surprised how many rtc's we have to deal with where granny or whoever has fallen on a bus whilst in motion. Technically if there is injury they are a recordable rtc.
The world is going mad! You could understand it for anything life changing but if granny has stood up before her stop then thats of their own making.
Lee D
J
JacobH
Which she will likely have to in order to signal 'STOP'?
Oh and RTC, Road Traffic C? Calamity, Catastrophe, Cockup?
I
Ian Rawlings
Casualty?
L
Lee_D
Collision - because no one has an accident - accidents happen on their own - and some bright spark decided that some RTA's may not be Accicidents. "Road traffic on purpose incident" didn't quite have the same ring. :-)
Lee
J
John Williamson
So, of course, all the councils are now buying buses (Bluebird from America are a big supplier) with 3 seats one side of the aisle & 2 the other, so they can still get 75 (ish) on. Just wait until they find out you can run 15 metre long ones. Anyone fancy driving & supervising a hundred kids on the way home from school? :-/
Then they either terminate the local operators' contracts or rent them the buses to do the job.
Staffordshire & Cheshire are both doing it round here, but not with any great enthusiasm yet, thank goodness.
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