As from Tuesday, 9 May, the use of seatbelts will be required in all commercial vehicles, including coaches and minibuses.

Under the existing European legislation it was compulsory to use seat belts in vehicles below 3.5 tonnes fitted with restraints. From Tuesday, this obligation has now been extended to all categories of vehicles and it also requires the use of restraint systems specially adapted for children.

The directive on the compulsory use of seat belts has to be incorporated into law in the member states by next Tuesday and while the draft regulations have been submitted for the Maltese cabinet’s consideration, very few people in Malta know that new rules on seatbelt use come into force next week.

Contacted yesterday, the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) confirmed that the regulations are in front of Cabinet and that the legal notice is expected to be published shortly.

The ADT also told The Malta Independent that an educational campaign will be launched in the coming weeks to inform drivers of commercial vehicles of their obligations.

Asked why the campaign was starting only after the new regulations are introduced, the ADT said: “Because ADT had to carry an impact assessment prior to sending the draft regulations for Cabinet’s consideration.”

The aim of the directive is to help meet the EU’s goal of halving the number of road deaths by 2010.

The European Commission recently reviewed the efforts made since 2001 to improve road safety. While considerable progress has been made, particularly in some Member States – in 2005 there were 41,000 road fatalities in Europe compared with 50,000 in 2001 – greater efforts will have to be made at all levels if the 2010 target is to be met.

Failure to use seat belts is the second biggest cause of road deaths, after speeding and ahead of drink-driving. A study carried out for the European Commission has come to the conclusion that, in the best-case scenario, actions targeting the use of seat belts would save 5,500 lives a year in the EU.

Generally speaking, the European legislation in force so far made seat belt use compulsory only in vehicles under 3.5 tonnes. In vehicles with more than nine seats and in commercial vehicles, it was not compulsory to use seat belts when sitting in the back of vehicles.

The existing directive did require the use of child restraints on seats fitted with seat belts, but it did not specify what type of restraint would be appropriate. It allowed children to travel without being properly restrained by a device suited to their size if none was available.

The new directive makes it compulsory to use seat belts in all categories of vehicles and on all seats fitted with them; it also provides for a series of measures to improve the safety of children travelling in cars, lorries and coaches.

For example, children less than 1.35 metres tall, or travelling in cars or lorries fitted with safety devices, must be restrained by an approved device adapted to their weight. The member states can allow children over 1.35 metres tall to use an adult seat belt. The use of rearward-facing child restraints is now no longer allowed on the front passenger seat unless its airbag has been deactivated.

According to the draft regulations that have to be approved by Cabinet, any person found guilty of committing any offence in breach of the regulations shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than Lm10 and not exceeding Lm25.

If, for example, the passengers on a coach are not wearing a seatbelt, the new regulations put the liability on the passenger and not the driver.

However, if the passengers are under 16 and travelling without a seatbelt, “criminal liability shall vest with the driver”.

When asked whether local wardens had been informed of the upcoming changes to the law, the ADT said that the “wardens will be informed once the draft regulations are approved by the Cabinet as normal procedure.”

The compulsory use of seatbelts in cars for the driver and front seat passenger was introduced in Malta in 1995. The mandatory use of seatbelts for children as back seat passengers was introduced in January 2004, while the legislation was extended to adults in June 2004 of the same year.

According to the stock of licensed vehicles as of the end of last year, Malta has 144 coaches, 422 minibuses and over 44,300 commercial vehicles travelling its roads.