4. After section 15A insert—
15B—(1) Subject to subsection (6) below, the operator of a bus in which any of the passenger seats are equipped with seat belts shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that every passenger is notified that he is required to wear a seat belt at all times when—
(a)he is in a seat equipped with a seat belt, and
(b)the bus is in motion.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, a passenger may be notified only by one or more of the following means—
(a)an official announcement, or an audio-visual presentation, made when the passenger joins the bus or within a reasonable time of his doing so;
(b)a sign prominently displayed at each passenger seat equipped with a seat belt.
In paragraph (a) above, “official announcement” means an announcement by the driver of the bus, by a conductor or courier or by a person who is a group leader in relation to any group of persons who are passengers on the bus.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above, a sign that takes the form of a pictorial symbol must be in the form shown in Schedule 2A, depicting a white figure on a blue background.
(4) An operator who fails to comply with subsection (1) above is guilty of an offence.
(5) Where an offence under subsection (4) above which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in such a capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(6) Subsection (1) above does not apply in relation to a bus—
(a)which is being used to provide a local service (within the meaning of the Transport Act 1985(1)) in a built-up area, or
(b)which is constructed or adapted for the carriage of standing passengers and on which the operator permits standing.
For the purposes of paragraph (a) above, a local service is provided in a built-up area if the entire route used by that service consists of restricted roads.
(7) In this section—
“bus” has the same meaning as in section 15;
“operator”, in relation to a bus, means—
the owner of the bus, or
if the bus is in the possession of any other person under an agreement for hire, hire-purchase, conditional sale, loan or otherwise, that person;
“passenger seat”, in relation to a bus, means any seat other than the driver’s seat;
“restricted road” means a road that is restricted for the purposes of section 81 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984(2) (ignoring any direction under section 82(2)(b) of that Act) or would be so restricted but for a direction under section 82(2)(a) or an order under section 84(1) of that Act.”.
1985 c. 67. A “local service” is defined in section 2 of that Act.