MIKE YOUDS

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

Port Alberni school trustees will consider the possibility of equipping school buses with seatbelts.

Like motor coaches, school buses are not required to have seat belts, a longstanding safety concern in the eyes of at least one trustee.

Transport Canada, which will require seatbelts on highway buses by 2020, has long contended that seat belts pose greater risks than benefits on school buses.

Rosemarie Buchanan said sheB次元官网网址檚 frequently raised the issue during her 22 years on the board of education.

B次元官网网址淭ransport Canada needs to get off its butt and give us some regulations for seatbelts on all new buses,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭his is a huge tragedy waiting to happen.B次元官网网址�

After hearing a report from School District 70 Superintendent Greg Smyth on the matter, trustees agreed to raise the issue at the Vancouver Island School Trustees Academy at monthB次元官网网址檚 end as well as with the provincial council of B.C. School Trustees Association (BCSTA) in February 2019.

B次元官网网址淚t became quite immediate in the wake of the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy,B次元官网网址� Smyth told trustees. The coach crash in April claimed 16 lives and injured 13 other passengers.

Smyth cited a Canada Safety Council figure suggesting people are 16 times safer on a bus than in a car. Nothing is directing District 70 to put seatbelts on school buses, he noted.

An independent, knowledge-based group dedicated to safety, has been down this road many times before. Experts, including the council, do not believe seat belts on school buses would improve safety. After the Humboldt tragedy, the issue has remained in the public eye.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have an idea that bus transportation is unsafe at this point and we donB次元官网网址檛 know how much safer it would be if seatbelts were installed on school buses,B次元官网网址� Smyth said.

Yet school boards will be on the hook financially if Transport Canada should choose to make seat belts mandatory on school buses. To act pre-emptively by installing some form of belt or safety harness could prove to be a waste of funds should regulations later require a different approach, he suggested.

B次元官网网址淲e certainly think it would be incumbent on the Ministry of Education to fund it if they require any changes,B次元官网网址� Smyth said.

Greg Roe, director of operations, pointed out that the greatest safety hazard is created by drivers who disobey school bus lights flashing red. A new camera system being installed on District 70 buses will help monitor inappropriate behaviour and catch traffic offenders, he said. The systems are already in use in areas including the Fraser Valley.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e already made inroads with local law enforcement to let them know this is coming B次元官网网址� and theyB次元官网网址檝e been receptive,B次元官网网址� Roe said. B次元官网网址淎gain, itB次元官网网址檚 not the be-all, end-all, but I think itB次元官网网址檚 focusing on the right area.B次元官网网址�

School buses are quite a bit safer than they were 20 years ago, he added. While seat belts would B次元官网网址減robablyB次元官网网址� improve safety, they could also be problematic given considerations of age compatibility among children and youth.

Pam Craig, board chairwoman, said she is troubled by an eight-year-old Transport Canada report on motor coach seatbelts that wasnB次元官网网址檛 shared with the public.

B次元官网网址淐hildren are used to getting in a vehicle and putting on a seatbelt, and I do think that itB次元官网网址檚 going to be incumbent on the trustees in the province of B.C. to make that message loud and clear to the minister,B次元官网网址� she said.

Craig said she advised BCSTA to expect a motion from school districts calling for B次元官网网址渟ome serious investigation of seat beltsB次元官网网址� on school buses in the province.

B次元官网网址淲e need to make some noise, I think,B次元官网网址� Craig concluded.

B次元官网网址淚 get the newer buses are safer, but theyB次元官网网址檙e not as safe as buses where they have to be strapped in,B次元官网网址� said Buchanan, who used to have a Class 1 licence.

B次元官网网址淚n a rollover, those kids will be tumbling around,B次元官网网址� she added. B次元官网网址淭hey will be ejected out windows. There will be serious damage and injuries.B次元官网网址�

Retrofitting buses would be expensive but the ministry of education should provide funding, Buchanan said.