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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28-10 -10 Child Restraint ActionThe QHMC has written to the to senior management within Queensland Transport to ask that they consider relaxing or removing the child restraints requirements for our historic vehicles. below is a copy of the letter:- Department of Transport & Main Roads PO Box 673 FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006 Dear ……………… Seat Belt & Child Restraint Laws (Section 266 & 267 Queensland Road Rules) I write to you in my capacity as President of Queensland Historic Motoring Council (QHMC) in order to request you to review an amendment to Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009, in respect of Section 267 (1B). I also request that an exemption be seriously considered for historic pre-seat belt era vehicles from seat belt and child restraint use laws whilst being used in connection with historic vehicle events and club activities. QHMC is the peak representative body in Queensland for the clubs of owners, operators and collectors of Veteran, Vintage, Post Vintage, and Historic motor vehicles, also loosely termed “historic” vehicles and occasionally referred to as “heritage” or ”classic”. There are more than 100 historic vehicle clubs affiliated with QHMC catering for over 10 000 members, many of whom own and operate several historic club vehicles. Together with similar councils in all mainland States and Territories, QHMC is affiliated nationally with Australian Historic Motoring Federation (AHMF). Last year’s Queensland Road Rules (QRR) legislation received the full support of QHMC and in particular the new rules covering seat belts and restraints which became effective in March 2010. The community was told that the new QRR would mirror Australian Road Rules (ARR), however, an amendment introduced to QRR barely a month later, in April 2010, has given QHMC cause for concern. This amendment came as a surprise and is totally out of step with the model ARR and the 2009/2010 road rules introduced in other States and Territories. In Queensland, it is not permitted to carry anyone 7 to under 16 years of age in vehicles which do not have seat belts fitted, despite the original manufacture date of those particular vehicles exempting them from any requirement to be fitted. As a result, my members and interstate club visitors are not able to include their children or grandchildren in their historic vehicle activities in Queensland. This adversely impacts on the movement because children cannot take part in the hobby with their families which in turn will see family traditions fade away. And the community will be the poorer for it. Vehicles not requiring seat belts by law are now older than 40 years and very few are used as everyday vehicles. Such vehicles comprise the Veteran category from 1885 to 1918, Vintage to 1930, Post Vintage to 1949, and thereafter Historic by decades. The overwhelming majority of these vehicles are owned by collectors and members of recognised collectable motor vehicle clubs catering to the various categories and most are on Special Interest Vehicle Registration and are therefore limited in their use. They are used on recognized historic vehicle events, events benefiting charitable bodies, limited road testing, repairs and maintenance. A high percentage of the older vehicles have timber frames and are therefore unsuited to the safe installation of seat belts and child restraints. Drilling holes and welding the chassis of these old vehicles in order to install restraints is likely to adversely affect their structural engineering integrity and safety. Most clubs also value originality and such work would take away the originality of the vehicle in both historic and collectable value. Most charitable events organizers call upon our clubs to provide displays, demonstration runs and rides at school fetes, charity events, show days, parades, aged care outings, Anzac Day parades and the like. Most of these events involve children. I feel confident that if research was carried out on motor vehicle insurance claims and compulsory third party claims in which these historic vehicles have been involved in recent times, the numbers of such claims, especially those with personal injuries, would be negligible, if any. Without the freedom to carry our 7 to under 16 year olds in our vehicles without fear of prosecution, the historic vehicle movement will wither through not having the next generation being able to enjoy the vehicles with their parents and grandparents. These children are the future custodians of our transport history, but under current Queensland law they cannot travel in a standard specification pre-seat belt era historic vehicle until they are 16 years of age. Although Section 267 (1A) provides an exemption for pre-seat belt era vehicles, Section 267(1B) disallows the exemption for under 16s. This happens only in Queensland. There is a ‘defence to prosecution’ provision contained in Section 266 (4AA) and (4AB), but this requires Section 266 (1) and (4) to first be breached. This defence provision does not provide sufficient protection for my members. It is acknowledged that vehicle safety is always a sensitive issue whenever it is raised, therefore it needs to be highlighted that the rules in Section 266 already clearly mandate that under 16 year olds must be restrained, and in respect of modern everyday vehicles, this is an appropriate law which QHMC supports. As the overwhelming majority of vehicles on the road are substantially less than 40 years old, the effect on the total vehicle fleet of extending the Section 267 (1B) requirement to under 16s (QRR), compared to simply applying it to under 7s (ARR), is miniscule. However, it is important to the ongoing use of historic vehicles and to the family and community benefits so gained. Here in Queensland we deserve an environment of parity with other jurisdictions to allow us to conduct our family and community events without fear of an unfair law. I would therefore be grateful if you would review Section 267 (1B) with a view to considering a recommendation to the Minister that, for very good reason, this section of QRR should be applicable only to persons under 7 years old as in ARR and other States and Territories. A further general exemption for historic vehicles involved in recognized club activities is also requested. These changes will provide the historic vehicle movement with an appropriate degree of flexibility thereby allowing it to carry on its activities in a safe and inclusive manner, within the law. Thank you for looking at this matter and I look forward your favourable response. Sincerely David James President |
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