Schoolgirl to sue council over seatbelts
2 Oct 06
Eleven-year-old wants local authority compelled to fit belts in school buses
An 11-year-old schoolgirl is suing her local council in a bid to improve road safety.
Caitlin Logue's legal challenge concerns her 50-mile round trip from Kilcreggan to Dumbarton to school by bus. The 14-year-old vehicle has not been fitted with seatbelts. Her petition to the Court of Session for judicial review is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.
She travels from her home in Kilcreggan to Our Lady and St Patrick's High School in Dumbarton with 14 other pupils. Her solicitor Cameron Fyfe claims that Argyll and Bute Council has a legal duty to fit seatbelts.
The council stated in a letter that seatbelts had not been fitted due to budgetary constraints.
The Department of Transport say it is compulsory for seatbelts to be fitted to buses used for organised trips such as school runs.