Bus accident kills 10-year-old

On Thursday, a 10-year-old boy named John Pham died on a school field trip in a bus accident near Brampton. At first, reports said he had brain injury, but later he was pronounced dead. The family had John's organs donated.

This case, of course, raises the obvious questions of seatbelts on school buses.

When I was growing up, I rode the bus to and from school every day and used to purposely choose to sit at the back because when the bus hit a bump, I would fly out of my seat.

Being older and wiser now, it seems this was a little unsafe and certainly could have had major consequences had my bus been in any sort of accident.

This is what our premier, Dalton McGuinty, told the press about calls for seatbelts:

While Premier Dalton McGuinty offered his condolences, he stressed that federal officials continue to advise "that it is safer for our children (on buses) not to have them in seatbelts." Hamilton Spectator

And Transport Canada:

Suzanne Tylko, chief of crash worthiness research for the federal agency, confirmed Transport Canada is looking into the crash, but noted this is only the sixth fatality involving school bus passengers under the age of 19 since 1995.

Tylko said school buses are currently designed with tall, padded seats that are placed fairly close together to minimize injuries in case of an accident.

Adding seatbelts to school buses wouldn't ensure compliance, she said.

"When you talk about a child, some as young as four, it becomes a very challenging responsibility to expect that young child not only to buckle in, but to buckle in correctly," Tylko said. Guelph Mercury

And this is what Transport Canada has on its website on passenger safety:

The seats are spaced and the seat backs sized to resist occupants being thrown around in an impact. A barrier is provided in front of the first row of seats. The seat backs and barrier are designed with a balance of energy absorption and strength.

A head impact area is defined together with a head impact protection standard that precludes, for example, simple overhead luggage racks. In other possible impact areas the joint strength standard reduces the possibility of sharp edges. The result is very few injuries inside school buses, even in severe crashes and those involving rollover.

It should be noted, that most reports of this crash say that the children were thrown around like "rag dolls" in the crash and John's injuries were to the head.

In my own childhood experiences, when I was riding that bus every day, one of the most coveted positions was that of the "bus monitor" who would help the children cross the road and resolve conflicts between children on the bus. Perhaps the monitor could also help the young children with their belts, should belts ever be put in place.