THIS week, the Bath Star launches a major campaign to crack down on one of the biggest hazards facing users of public transport in the Bath area.

Our campaign, Seated & Safe (SAS) is calling for bus drivers to always ensure their passengers are sitting down before they pull away, safeguarding against severe falls, trips and accidents once the bus drives off.

The dangers posed, especially to the elderly, disabled and parents could be considerable.

The company that runs the majority of buses in Bath, First In Bath (formerly First Badgerline), said that there are currently no legal requirements to safeguard this aspect of passenger safety.

Managing director Brian Noton said: "There is no law about waiting for the passengers to sit down before the bus pulls off. It would be nonsense to do so as all our buses are licensed to carry standing passengers.

"There is no legal requirement for people to sit down, we cannot force them to sit down. As long as we are within the number of standees then the driver can pull away."

Mr Noton said that drivers are instead told to extend "courtesy" to those passengers who struggle to get to their seat.

He said that this courtesy, though not mandatory, should be carried out as often as possible.

He said: "What we say to our drivers is if you have someone who is vulnerable, like someone who is carrying a child or who is elderly, then the common courtesy is that they should let that passenger get to a seat. That is not the case with ordinary passengers and we don't attempt to do that and could not keep to schedules if we did."

Alan Burnett, policy officer for Help the Aged said: "A lot of older people do not get on buses because they do not feel they will be safe once they get on board. And it is not just a fear of that happening, it is a reality for many older people.

"We have a campaign called SARA, which stands for Safe Affordable Reliable and Accessibile, and we would say that the safety aspect is the most important for older people using public transport.

"The campaign is highly commendable and is really hitting one of the key issues that elderly people are concerned about with public transport."

Parents with young children are also at risk. Last year the Bath Star featured the story of 3-year-old Joe Archer who was left with a bloodied nose following a fall on a bus.

Joe's mother Kim said the incident, on the number 173 First Badgerline bus, shows the dangers children can face when not given proper time to reach their seat.

She said: "I had just got on the bus and had not had time to sit my son down properly. I had the pram in one hand and my other baby in the other and the bus braked quickly and Joe flew through the air and hit his nose on the bar and started a massive nose bleed which would not stop."

The British Council of Disabled People said that disabled people are also highly at risk of injury should a bus not give them time to find their seat.

Spokesman Paul Matthews said: "It is not good at all for disabled people as a driver pulling away too soon can put them in severe danger. It is good customer practice to allow the passenger to sit down first.

Many disabled people are affected. They could be caught off-balance and would find it difficult to reach their seat if a driver pulled away too soon.

"It is also obviously more likely to injure a disabled person rather than a non-disabled person."

Roger Vincent of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "We welcome this initiative. We have said that bus drivers should wait until people are properly seated before they pull away. This is particularly important for elderly people, disabled people and parents with young children.

"We do get complaints about this type of thing and slips, trips and falls are the most common types of accident in all walks of life. Therefore it is important to prevent this happening. If someone has a fall, particularly an elderly person, then the consequences can be very serious, even fatal."