School bus safety needs to be strengthened across the country, that from Canada’s transport minister.
Omar Alghabra wants to see a new visibility system for bus drivers, to enable them to see better around the vehicle.
“When it comes to protecting our children, we can never be safe enough. Passing any school bus with its stop arm deployed is reckless, and these proposed measures will help deter this. At the same time, the new visibility system would give school bus drivers a better view around the outside of the bus. I want to thank the Task Force on School Bus Safety and our many partners for bringing this proposal forward,” the Minister says.
Alghabra is also proposing extended stop arms be installed on new and imported buses.
In an effort to help deter vehicles from illegally passing school buses, Alghabra is also suggesting clearer requirements for the voluntary installation of cameras.
An estimated 2.2 million Canadian children travel to and from school every day on over 50,000 school buses.
In January 2019, the federal, provincial, and territorial Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety established the Task Force on School Bus Safety to carefully examine the issue of school bus safety, both inside and outside the bus.
