Parents renew call made two months ago for seat belts

PARENTS have called for the immediate fitting of seat belts in all school buses to help prevent a repeat of Monday’s tragic events.

The National Parents Council - Post Primary (NPC-PP) addressed safety issues on the country’s 3,000 school buses with an Oireachtas committee as recently as two months ago.

“We want the school bus fleet upgraded this summer. There must be no more reviews of reports, this is about common sense, the main issue here is about safety.

“We raised the issue of seat belts with the Oireachtas Committee on Education eight weeks ago and we made the point that we, as parents, must have our children strapped in with seat belts when travelling in cars,” said council president Eleanor Petrie.

Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) general secretary Michael Moriarty said greater safety measures are needed to help reduce the risk of repeat tragedies.

In June 2002, INTO president Gerry Malone issued a statement urging that each school bus should have individual seat belts.

He also said adult supervisors should be provided to monitor behaviour and safety on school transport.

He also called at the time for a change in the law that would make it illegal for a motorist to pass out a school bus when children are being picked up or dropped off.

Such a law exists in the US. And the country’s distinct yellow school buses are fitted with yellow lights at the rear, which flash when the driver is about to stop. When the bus stops, red lights flash and an arm with a stop sign is extended from the outside of the bus.

The Education Department established an independent School Transport Appeals Board in January 2003. None of the 66 cases it has dealt with were in relation to safety issues, according to a spokesperson.