South-west company ponders 80kmh speed restriction for bus drivers

Popes in Timboon, which has always put passenger safety at the forefront, reduced the speed limit for its drivers to 90kmh some years ago.

Director David Pope said the decision followed the company's decision to become the first bus line in Australia to mandate seat belts.

Mr Pope said his father Peter decided to introduce the mandate after being shocked by the horrific consequences of some bus crashes in the late 1980s and '90s across the nation.

"There was a horrific accident in which two buses effectively collided head-on at 100kmh," Mr Pope said.

"There were a large number of people killed and injured and none of the passengers were wearing seatbelts."

Mr Pope said the decision to reduce the speed limit drivers could travel at to 90kmh was made for a number of reasons.

He said passenger safety was the company's top priority and the decision was made based on road conditions, other road users and the fact a reduction of 10kmh didn't make a huge difference in the amount of time trips took.

Mr Pope said the busline had a number of buses it bought a few years ago that didn't have seat belts.

Drivers using those are already limited to travelling at 80kmh, he said.

"We're already working in the space where we capped our speed limit to 90 and some to 80 and we wouldn't rule out reducing the speed limit to 80kmh," Mr Pope said.

"We're taking your children to and from school and for us it's about trying to do that in the safest way possible."

Mr Pope said the inquiry into a bus crash in NSW which killed a number of people showed there was a huge amount of trauma associated with the speed it was travelling.

"We're just trying to work out what is the safest way to get the kids to and from school for the region's conditions," he said.

Mr Pope said the company's bus drivers had responded well to the initial reduction in speed to 90kmh.

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