National Express Introduces Child-Safety Seats
Coach firm invests £1million in new child-friendly equipment
Strictly embargoed until 00.01 on Wednesday 29 August 2007
National Express, Britain's number one coach operator, will be the first national scheduled coach company to introduce new child seats for all children, it was announced today.
The company is fitting all its coaches with seat belts and booster seats as well as special fittings to allow car seats to be used on the coach for all passengers from newborn babies up to the age of 14 and older. The £1 million investment in the new 'child-friendly' measures will be completed across its entire fleet by the end of the year.
All new coaches on the National Express fleet will come fitted with special seat belts, which can be adjusted to fit the child's size, and special fittings to allow parents to securely fit a car seat onto the coach seat. National Express also plans to introduce child friendly zones of eight seats with the new seatbelts on its existing fleet.
The initiative, which has been approved by the Road User Safety and Transport Technology and Standards divisions of the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), reinforces the company's priority to safe and convenient travel.
Richard Bowker, Chief Executive, National Express Group, said: "National Express is the first UK national scheduled coach operator to provide these extra measures enabling all children from newborn babies onwards to benefit. As the UK's leading coach operator we believe we have a responsibility to take the lead on new customer focused initiatives. It has taken a year of extensive research and development work with manufacturers to ensure we get the right solution for our customers and today's announcement is the culmination of this effort.
"Coach travel is the safest form of transport and this new safety facility for children under 14 is designed to give parents and guardians extra reassurance that their children can travel safely with us.
Very simply, we want to make coach travel accessible to all passengers, whether they are nine months or 90 years old."
Duncan Vernon, Road Safety Manager at RoSPA said, "RoSPA is frequently contacted by parents concerned about how they can carry children safely on coaches. This initiative by National Express is to be welcomed, because it will increase the number of children who can make use of seat belts when travelling by coach."
Today's announcement forms part of a wider initiative to introduce new child-friendly zones onto National Express services over the coming months giving families a dedicated area when travelling.
-ENDS-
For more information, please contact (MEDIA ENQUIRIES ONLY):-
Deborah Tilley, National Express: 07719 342020
- Joy Williams, National Express: 07795 267 453
- Sara Jenkins, IAS Smarts: 0121 456 3199
Notes to editors:- As Britain's No 1 coach operator, National Express also operates a high frequency service to all major UK airports. With a record number of passengers choosing to travel with National Express, the company continues to invest in high specification vehicles and state-of-art customer facilities. The division employs over 1,500 people.
- The Government introduced legislation in September 2006, which made the wearing of seat belts for people over the age of 14 mandatory.
- The new child-friendly zones have been specifically designed to cater for all children under 14 years old. The design specifications are as follows:
- Children aged 0-18 months travel in a rearward facing child seat
- Children aged 18-36 months travel in a forward facing child seat
- Smaller children aged 4-7 travel in a booster seat with a comfort fit belt provided on board
- Larger children aged 8 and above travel in a booster seat with a comfort fit belt provided on board
- All people under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult on a National Express coach.
- All National Express coach seats are currently fitted with seat belts for adults. It will be the parent or guardian's responsibility to provide suitable child seats for children under four years old who cannot travel on a booster seat, and ensure the quality of the equipment and its safe use. A database of child seats that can and can't be used due to the size will be developed.
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