Two years after a Rimbey teen was killed when the school bus she was on was rear-ended by a gravel truck, the Alberta government has adopted a 10-point action plan to improve school bus safety throughout the province.
On Wednesday, Alberta Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette announced the province has taken action on all 10 recommendations for improving the safety of school bus travel, as outlined in Ensuring the Safety of Our Children: A Report on School Bus Safety in Alberta. The recommendations were implemented under a program called the School Bus Safety Initiative.
The report was issued in 2008, a few months after Jennifer Noble was killed just outside of Rimbey when a truck hit the school bus she was on. Some of the recommendations adopted by the province last week include making amber flashing lights and strobe lights mandatory on all school buses, retrofitting buses with side and rear reflective tape and working with industry to develop best practices for hiring school bus drivers.
“I think the government has done a comprehensive job,” said Dave Caron, Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board chair.
“We’re implementing all of the recommendations,” he said.
One issue the report did not touch on is the use of seat belts on school buses.
According to Alberta Transportation, studies have shown that due to the design of school buses, seat belts would not necessarily increase safety and could put students at risk in some cases.
“I think it’s very important for school safety to make sure that our children are transported safely,” said Morag Pansegrau, chair of the St. Albert Protestant School Board, which contracts out its school bus service.
“It’s the contractors’ responsibility but we are ensured that all the safety measures are in place that the province requires and we’re very pleased with the bus companies that transport our children,” she said.
“It’s their responsibility to make sure the buses are right but it’s our responsibility to make sure that they’re doing it and we’ve had no complaints and we believe that they’re up to code and everything is as it should be.”
Last year, school boards received funding from the province to help offset the cost to retrofit school buses with reflective tape.
According to the province, nine of the 10 recommendations have already been implemented and the 10th recommendation – to add all school bus drivers to the Commercial Driver Profile program — will be completed by early 2011.
