The Transport Act 1981 was an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Amongst other items it introduced the compulsory wearing of seat belts for front seat passengers for a trial period of three year. The major part of the act was for re-organising the

British Transport Docks Board {{Unreferenced, date=August 2009 The British Transport Docks Board (BTDB) was a nationalised industry, managing former railway-owned docks in Great Britain. It was created by the Transport Act 1962 and abolished by the Transport Act 1981, which pro ...

which led to its eventual privatisation. The Act received Royal Assent 31 July 1981.

Clauses of the Act

Reorganisation of British Transport Docks Board

Part II of the act renamed the British Transport Docks Board as

Associated British Ports Associated British Ports owns and operates 21 ports in the United Kingdom, managing around 25 per cent of the UK's sea-borne trade. The company's activities cover transport, haulage and terminal operations, ship's agency, dredging and marine cons ...

and made it a subsidiary a holding company limited by shares to be issued by the Secretary of State or their agents, thus making its privatisation possible.

Seatbelt legislation

It had been compulsory to fit front

seat belts A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

to cars built in Europe since 1965 and to all new cars sold in the UK since 1967. The

Clunk Click "Clunk Click Every Trip" is the slogan of a series of British public information films, commencing in the summer of 1970 presented by Shaw Taylor, then in January 1971, starring Jimmy Savile. The BBC adapted Savile's slogan for the title of his ...

" TV commercials, starring

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

showing the dangers of being thrown through the windscreen in a collision was shown during the 1970s. Attempts were made to making the wearing of front seat belts compulsory into a Road Traffic Bill in 1973-4 but was unsuccessful. John Gilbert, the

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

proposed a 'Road Traffic (Seat Belts) Bill' in 1976 but it was also unsuccessful. Four further attempts at legislation were made by a number of MPs including Bill Rodgers and Neil Carmichael before Lord Nugent (who was also the president of the

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is a British charity that aims to save lives and prevent life-changing injuries which occur as a result of accidents. In the past, it has successfully campaigned on issues of road safet ...

) was finally successful, initially by proposing a private member's bill, and then by adding it as an amendment to the Transport Bill in the House of Lords. The House of Commons voted to accept the amendment on 28 July 1981.Hansard - 28 July 1981 - Compulsory wearing of seatbelts
/ref> ;Clauses The act included clauses for: *The compulsory wearing of seat-belts for front seat passengers for three years *other clauses... ;Legacy Following the three-year trial the compulsory wearing of seat belts was made permanent when both Houses of Parliament voted 'overwhelmingly' to retain the requirement. Legislation was subsequently introduced for the compulsory fitting of seat belts to the rear of cars (1987), for children to wear seat belts in the back (1989), and then adults(1991). Seat belts were required for minibuses and coaches carrying school children (1996) and for all coaches (2001).

Other clauses of the act

References

External links

Transport Act 1981 - Hansard

UK Legislation

* {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1981 1981 in transport Transport policy in the United Kingdom History of transport in the United Kingdom Transport legislation