Excursions and road safety

School excursions are a great opportunity for students to practise safe behaviours in real life environments and reinforce the key road safety messages.

Excursions and variations of routine procedure

School excursions are structured learning experiences that may pose risks. The Excursions and variations of routine procedure provides guidance to schools on managing those risks.

Some road safety considerations:

1.2 Consider the duty of care
- All department employees must exercise this duty of care by:
- taking reasonable care for the safety and welfare of students in their charge
  - taking all reasonable action to protect students from risks of harm that can be reasonably predicted.
2.1 Manage potential risks
Excursion organisers must complete a risk assessment plan
Consider:
- how students will get to the venue (transport options)
- local practices and experience (schools implement their own procedures to provide for the safe conduct of excursions in accordance with this procedure)
- Before approving any excursion, principals need to ensure that staff organising excursions have completed a satisfactory risk management plan.

2.4 Consider student needs
- This may involve organising accessible transport for students with disability and additional learning and support needs so they can participate in the excursion on the same basis as other students.
2.5 Plan activities, venues, transport and accommodation

2.5.4 Consider the best form of transport

2.6 Plan for parent and carer communication and consent
- 2.6.2 Written and digital consent

Advice about seatbelts for cars and buses:

vehicles designed to seat 12 or fewer people, including the driver:
- must wear the seatbelt provided in the vehicle
- children under 7 years travelling in vehicles must be restrained in suitable and approved child restraints or booster seats that are properly fitted to the vehicle and adjusted to fit the child’s body correctly. More information is available from Transport for NSWExternal link
taxis
- children aged between 4 and 7 years of age are not required to be restrained by an approved child restraint or booster seat. Parents and carers can provide a suitable child restraint if they choose to do so.
- By law, all passengers are required to wear a seatbelt in a taxi.
buses carrying more than 13 people
- When hiring buses for excursions, schools should hire buses with seatbelts, if possible, especially for long distance travel. The number of passengers in a vehicle must not exceed the number it is licensed to carry.
- Children between 4 and 7 years of age are permitted to travel on a bus without using an approved child restraint or booster seat, e.g. public or school buses. However, schools should conduct a risk assessment to determine if this is the safest mode of transport for young children for the distance and location being travelled to/from.
buses fitted with seatbelts:

Children between 4 and 7 years of age are permitted to travel on a seatbelt-fitted bus without using an approved child restraint or booster seat.
It is the law that a passenger must use a seatbelt on a bus if one is provided.

Transport for NSW's school travel information for Opal cards and group bookings