Wearing the seatbelt

Because everyone’s safety is a top priority for Transdev.

RAISING STUDENTS’ AWARENESS ABOUT WEARING A SEATBELT

Despite awareness campaigns and the mandatory requirement to wear seatbelts on school buses, we observe every day that students still do not wear them consistently. When asked, students give several reasons: discomfort caused by the seatbelt, a perceived sense of safety due to the size of the bus, a habit that is not as ingrained as it is in a car, and the influence of peers (“nobody wears their seatbelt”).

Because the safety of everyone is a top priority for Transdev, and in light of recent accidents – some of them fatal – we have designed an awareness initiative to encourage the wearing of seatbelts.

Seated on a motion platform originally designed to raise driver awareness about driving quality, and equipped with a virtual reality headset, students experience safety scenarios as if they were on board a real bus: avoiding a cyclist on the road, emergency braking when arriving at the school, navigating a roundabout at high speed, or driving over a speed bump.

We propose raising awareness among 200 sixth- and seventh‑grade students each year with this immersive solution. Highly realistic – it recreates real situations that students may experience – it leaves a strong impression, with most students stating afterwards that they will buckle up more regularly and remain buckled until the bus comes to a complete stop.

This innovation is part of the national JOANA Plan introduced in April 2025.

Road Safety Awareness Through Virtual Reality Structured English Version with Timestamps 1. Context of the Initiative (00:00 – 00:15) Every day, thousands of students travel on the Cars du Rhône school buses [00:00]. However, most of them still do not have the reflex to fasten their seatbelt [00:06]. To address this safety issue, SYTRAL Mobilités and Transdev Rhône‑Alpes developed an innovative virtual‑reality solution to raise awareness among young passengers [00:15]. 2. Creating the Immersive Content (00:27 – 00:35) To deliver a realistic and impactful experience, 360° immersive scenes were filmed inside a bus during two half‑day sessions [00:27]. Professional actors and stunt performers recreated risky situations such as: Emergency braking [00:35] Last‑minute obstacle avoidance [00:35] These scenarios were captured to be reproduced inside the VR platform. 3. How the Experiment Works (00:48 – 01:06) Middle‑school students sit in a dynamic bus seat and wear a VR headset [00:48]. They experience physical jolts and highly realistic accident scenarios, helping them understand the real risks associated with not wearing a seatbelt [01:06]. 4. Students’ Testimonials (01:06 – 01:23) Student 1: They enjoyed the “shaking sensations,” which felt funny at first, but quickly became frightening when realizing that in real life, such situations can be dangerous [01:06]. Student 2: They learned the importance of staying seated and keeping the seatbelt fastened until the driver explicitly says it is safe to unbuckle [01:14]. Student 3: The simulation felt extremely realistic, similar to actual bus situations, and it made them promise to pay more attention to wearing a seatbelt in the future [01:23]. 5. Results and Next Steps (01:31 – 01:39) Results of the pilot phase: 4 days of intervention 2 middle schools involved 223 students sensitized 100% satisfaction rate A widespread increase in awareness about the importance of wearing a seatbelt [01:31] Future expansion: The program will continue starting in September 2025 across the following local communities [01:39]: Pays Mornantais (COPAMO) Vallée du Garon (CCVG) Pays de l’Ozon (CCPO)
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