PORT Stephens students travelling to and from school can now buckle up with mandatory seat belts installed in every dedicated school bus in the region.

As part of the NSW Government’s Rural and Regional Bus Seatbelt Program, seatbelts have been delivered on the entire fleet of almost 2,600 dedicated school buses in rural and regional NSW, with 1,145 new buses installed with seat belts and 883 existing buses retrofitted with seatbelts.

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From 2016 to 2020, 35 percent of all bus passengers injured in crashes were children aged five to sixteen years and one in four bus passengers injured were on a school bus.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the $237 million seatbelt program would give regional students, their families and entire communities the reassurance that travelling to and from school is now safer than ever.

“Country and regional kids have to travel longer distances than those in the city, and we want to make those journeys as safe as possible,” Mr Toole said.

“Seatbelts save lives – and I’m proud to deliver on our commitment to fit more than 2,500 buses with seat belts to help keep some of our most precious road users safe.”

Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the seatbelt program is great news for regional school students.

“Student safety is so important, whether that’s on the way to school or after they’ve entered the school gates, and we know that wearing a seat belt makes the journey to school safer,” Ms Mitchell said.

“As a regional Minister and parent who regularly uses regional roads, I’m really happy to see that this initiative is providing a safer trip between home and school for students.”

More than 200,000 students will be able to wear a seatbelt on school buses delivering a welcome boost in bus safety for school children right across regional NSW.

Regional school buses frequently have to travel on unsealed roads and on roads outside urban areas with a speed limit of 80 km/h and the NSW Government’s Program has ensured that the safety of students as they travel to and from school is not compromised.

Motorists are reminded to slow down to 40km/h when bus lights flash because this means a bus is picking up or dropping off children and that they may be about to cross the road.

By Tara CAMPBELL