Two-year-old Markus likes to take a bus. Today he is going to Stavanger city center with his mother and siblings. He looks out the window, points and smiles. But mother is worried. – I am afraid of what might happen if the bus has to brake abruptly, says Agne Lietvaityte. Markus Kristaps Lietvaitis Anderson sits on the lap of his 11-year-old big sister Marija Abramaviciute. Next to them sits big sister of 13 years, Liepa Abramaviciute. All without seat belts. Photo: Marthe Kindervaag / news Lietvaityte travels alone with four children. The bus runs at 50 kilometers per hour. If they crash now, it will be as if Markus and the family jumped from the 10-meter without water in the pool. – This is in stark contrast to how we secure the children in the car, says Lietvaityte. – I am afraid that the bus will suddenly have to brake abruptly, then the kids can hit, says Agne Lietvaityte. Photo: Marthe Kindervaag / news Exempted from the regulations It has been 33 years since it was mandated to secure children on board a car. Before, around 100 children died in traffic every year – now there are almost none. But on the city bus that Markus and his family sit on, there are no opportunities to secure the passengers, neither large nor small. City buses are exempt from the regulations that require seat belts and approved car seats for children under three years. The bus classes: In the Vehicle Regulations, the bus is defined as a car for passenger transport with more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat. All buses must be approved for their use. According to the regulations, buses are divided into 3 classes. The bus class indicates the transport area for which the bus is designed and intended to be used for: Bus class 1: Bus that has more than 45 per cent of the passenger seats as standing places (city buses) Bus class 2: Bus that has up to 45 per cent of the passenger seats as standing places (suburban buses) Bus class 3: Bus which are designed for special purposes, including touring driving. The bus class must be entered in the bus’ carriage card. A bus can be designed to be used in more than one class, but must then be approved separately for each class. Bus classes 1 and 2 are characterized, among other things, by the fact that they usually do not have cargo space for luggage and are constructed (especially city buses) with a low floor for universal design, ie with the floor of the bus at the same level as the platform at the stop. Source: Wikipedia It makes parents feel insecure when they take their children on the bus. – We have to take a bus to get where we are going. But I sit with my heart in my throat, says Solveig Alice Johansen. – It does not feel safe to take a bus when it is not possible to secure the children properly, says Solveig Alice Johansen. Here she is with her two daughters: Tilia Johansen in the middle, Emily Elise Johansen on the right, and their friend Zara Demirbas on the left. Photo: Marthe Kindervaag / news The Norwegian Public Roads Administration wants to change the regulations In 2021, the Ministry of Transport and Communications commissioned the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to assess the regulations for seat belts on city buses. – We know that seat belts are the simplest and most effective measure to reduce the death toll in traffic, says Anette Hauge, senior adviser at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Senior adviser Anette Hauge in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Photo: Norwegian Public Roads Administration But for Markus and other children under the age of three, a possible rule change will not lead to a safer bus trip. They are too small to use a seat belt, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration will not recommend requirements for approved safety equipment for them. – It was not part of the assignment we received from the Ministry of Transport this time, Hauge says. But she agrees with the worried parents of young children in Stavanger. – The safety requirements for children under three years on the bus are not good enough. Agne Lietvaityte sits and looks after the pram the whole trip. Up in the carriage are six-week-old Matejs Pauls. Photo: Marthe Kindervaag / news Trygg Trafikk: – Young children are free to ride on the buses The city buses must keep a low speed and drive in areas close to the city. Therefore, the safety requirements have not been as strict as in traffic otherwise. It still happens that the buses reach up to 70 kilometers per hour. Hauge from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration says that the city buses are considered safe. – Accessibility is assessed against traffic safety to get a fair balance, she says. Trygg Trafikk believes it is wrong that buses are safer than other vehicles. – It only takes a strong emergency brake, then both children and adults will be able to rush forward and hit the passengers in front of them, says district leader Ingrid Lea Mæland in Trygg Trafikk Rogaland. Mæland is critical of the fact that the city buses in Rogaland are also used as school buses and that many children then do not have a safe school road as they are entitled to. Photo: Safe Traffic She thinks young children are free on the buses. – It is a myth that they are safer on board a bus than otherwise. There is a high risk of being insecure. Traffic safety is not a priority, it is accessibility that comes first, she says. Parents miss their own safety for children At the bus station in Stavanger, many parents come traveling with small children. But father of small children Jon Bjarne Leiknes has driven to the city today with his family. – If I take a bus with my children, I feel it in my stomach. It does not feel safe. Via its communication department, the Ministry of Transport and Communications writes this in an e-mail: This case concerns a regulation that the Ministry of Transport and Communications has the authority to change. It does not need to go to the Storting to be adopted. Photo: Marthe Kindervaag / news Leiknes misses both seat belts and own safety for children under three years. – I wish there were car seats on board for the youngest children, he says. The Ministry of Transport and Communications points out that the proposal for a rule change is being considered. They do not want to comment on this matter, nor the safety requirement for children under three years. The rule change has been under consideration since October 2021, but the ministry does not want to disclose when they expect to be completed.
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