Draft National Code of Practice and Engineering Certification Form for Retrofitting Passenger Restraints to Buses

 

The Draft National Code of Practice for Retrofitting Passenger Restraints to Buses & Coaches and the Engineering Certification Form for Retrofitting Passenger Restraints in Existing Buses & Coaches are now complete.  Both these documents are the outputs of a detailed technical review and update of the original guidelines (“Guidelines for the Voluntary Modification of Existing Buses and Coaches to Improve Occupant Protection”) developed in 1994 by the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC), the Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS) and the Australian Bus and Coach Association (ABCA).

 

The Draft Code of Practice has been prepared which sets out requirements for modification of existing buses with the intention of improving occupant protection in crashes.  This Draft Code is intended to replace the original guidelines and has been designed to provide detailed guidance and technical procedures for engineers and manufacturers involved in retrofitting passenger restraints to buses.  The Draft Engineering Checklist is to be used to record the necessary steps that have been taken to ensure that upgrades to a bus have been performed in accordance with the National Code of Practice.

 

The Draft National Code and the Draft Engineering Checklist have been prepared by Mr Michael Paine (from Vehicle Design & Research), the consultant appointed by the NTC to undertake the review and update of the original guidelines.  Both these documents have been through a review process and have recently been endorsed by the Bus Seatbelts Steering Committee. 

 

The Steering Committee was set up as part of this project and includes a number of bus industry and government representatives having expertise in the area of bus safety. 

 

During the consultation period you have the opportunity to provide comments to help ensure the final guidelines and engineering checklist are appropriate and able to be implemented.  Comments on the National Code of Practice for Retrofitting Passenger Restraints to Buses and the Draft Engineering Checklist are needed by 23 September 2005.

 

Queries and comments can be directed to Craig D'Souza.