Letter: Safety on plane, coach and bus
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: In the light of recent accidents, the issue of seat belts in coaches and minibuses has rightly been a cause of much concern. One of the most disturbing features to emerge from the discussion is the Department of Transport's statement, referred to in Christian Wolmar's article ('Ministers 'dithering' on minibus seat belts', 17 May), that European Union regulations would prevent our government unilaterally requiring seat belts to be provided on all UK-operated coaches.
If this is correct, then it is analogous to the situation prevailing in air transport. We are informed that the Civil Aviation Authority is now prohibited by EU regulation - in the case of aviation, Regulation 3922/91 - from introducing safety improvements unilaterally to British-registered
aircraft.
Such improvements evidently have to be agreed by our European partners, a process that, not surprisingly, can be very protracted. So, some nine years after the tragic accident to a British Airways aircraft at Manchester in 1985, one of the most significant recommendations to come out of that accident remains 'on the shelf', despite the fact that the CAA itself would like to see it
implemented.
How did we ever allow ourselves to get into this situation? We are not opposed to European codes of practice, but we would expect these to represent minimum standards that should not prevent individual countries adopting higher standards if they so wish.
Yours faithfully,
JOHN RICKARD
Honorary Secretary
Air Safety Group
Woking,
Surrey
19 May
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments