Rural mother spearheading drive to get seatbelts on Manitoba school buses

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This article was published 09/01/2019 (2795 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Ste. Anne-area mother is calling for the province to buckle down and put seatbelts in school buses in Manitoba.

Petra McGowan, who lives a few kilometres outside of Ste. Anne, said she’s been concerned for some time about the lack of seat restraints on school buses but her worries intensified in the fall when her six-year-old daughter, Emerson, began school, so she’s taking action.

“I’ve been doing more research and I’ve seen tons of simulations that have been done with (crash-test) dummies and it’s absolutely terrifying to see kids flying around inside a school bus like a tossed salad,” she said.

McGowan and about 40 other concerned Manitoba parents have formed a group called Manitoba Parents for Mandatory Seatbelts, which is calling for the province to retrofit all existing school buses with three-point restraints.

“It’s a very important issue, especially for rural families whose children are on school buses and on highways for hours each day,” she said. “So I just went ahead and started and I’m hoping to create a grassroots movement that is going to force our legislators to look at it.

“Ultimately, I think it’s about bringing an awareness to this issue. As more and more parents become aware of it, then they can help us by sending letters to the provincial minister, to their school boards and put pressure on superintendents, who can put pressure on the provincial government.”

McGowan, who runs her own business, said she drives her daughter to school whenever she can but there are some days Emerson is on the bus for 90 minutes.

“One parent told me her little son went on the bus at age five for the first time and he was distraught because he didn’t have a seat belt and he was taught that buckling up is very important,” she said.

McGowan said she contacted the local Seine River School Division and was told it follows the province’s directives on the issue.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler’s office issued a statement Wednesday morning confirming contact from McGowan’s group but didn’t say if Schuler would support revisiting the issue.

“The Minister’s office did receive correspondence from the individual in question very recently, and will be responding in short order. The federal government is reviewing this matter and we await their findings,” the statement read.

The group, which has a Facebook page, has received support from CAA Manitoba, which said in an emailed statement that it will “support any changes through our communications with our members and the public.”

“CAA encourages the appropriate authorities to address the issue of whether seatbelts on school buses should be made mandatory,” communications consultant Erika Miller wrote.

“As a leader in road safety issues and owner of the CAA School Safety Patrol program, CAA trains the program based on standards as set by government authorities. We are reviewing the issue and will work with the appropriate authorities as this matter gets addressed.”

McGowan said she is hoping that a private member’s bill on the issue in Ontario, introduced by former premier Kathleen Wynne, will encourage other provinces to follow.

Wynne’s bill, which passed a second reading last month, calls for three-point seat belts in all new school buses by 2020 and retrofits for all existing school buses by 2025.

McGowan pointed to an investigative report aired last fall by CBC’s Fifth Estate that found safety data showing children are at greater risk of injury in bus crashes without seatbelt protection.

“I started looking into the Transport Canada study (from 1984) that they (government) used to justify the lack of seat belts and as soon as I read it, it made zero sense to me,” she said, noting the study addressed front and rear collisions.

“It avoided side and rollover collisions which are traditionally the most lethal. In the fall, I saw the Fifth Estate investigation, which literally destroyed the whole (Transport Canada) study… (It showed) even the compartmental design that they tout doesn’t seem to be protecting all children at all times during the front and rear collisions,” she said, referring to the high-backed, padded seats which are said to be designed to absorb the impact of front and rear collisions.

A national petition on charge.org started by a B.C. bus driver, currently has 46,652 signatures. McGowan said she is in the process of starting a petition in Manitoba.

The education minister’s office said department statistics indicate some 66,000 students in Manitoba are transported to and from school on buses every day.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca