SIR: Reading the letter from Mark Williams, News Editor, of Coach and Bus Week, I was pleased to see that coach operators are campaigning for improved laws on seatbelts on coaches.

I would, however, like to make known a couple of points concerning the accident in the French Alps that robbed us of our son, Robert, and his friends Keith and Nicola.

Regardless of school policy that only coaches with seat belts fitted are hired, staff at St James's who organised the holiday, and who had been before, failed to tell us that other coaches and mini buses, that most likely didn't have fitted seats belts would be used to take youngsters out on activities, taking away our chance of making an informed decision as to whether or not we wanted to take the risk of our children being unrestrained in a coach.

Another important issue that coach operators and drivers may want to look at is that of drivers without adequate training or experience of left hand drive vehicles being allowed to drive with passengers on board.

At both the trial in France for involuntary manslaughter, and at the inquest at Bolton it was acknowledged that inexperience was the cause of the accident, and we feel strongly that the fact that the children were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the bus, was the main cause of the injuries that killed them, and this was backed up by the opinion of the pathologist.

Lesley Boardman

Manley Avenue, Clifton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.