Student safety can’t be ignored

WE are not allowed to stand up on the back of a ute on a public road and be driven about so why are schoolchildren standing up in buses to and from school because of overcrowding?

In fact, why is anyone permitted to stand in buses and trains for that matter, if there are no seats available?

The issue of overcrowding on school buses in the Far North and probably across the state is of a major worry to parents.

The State Government places a strong emphasis on workplace and road safety yet it is putting at risk thousands of schoolchildren daily.

There are no seat belts on most, if not all, school buses, plus many of our precious kids are having to stand as well.

All it takes is for the driver to suddenly stop or take evasive action and the children are in danger of being seriously injured or worse. It would not take much for a student to smash into a bus windscreen.

Last week students standing in the aisles were catapulted forward when the driver of the Stratford, Redlynch, Freshwater route reacted in an emergency braking situation.

One parent, Dave Thatcher, said his daughter, 13, was saved from serious injury by the bus driver.

“One child basically face planted on the floor … and the bus driver basically stopped (my daughter) from going through the front window,” he said.

Mr Thatcher is calling for government action but he fears that it will take a tragedy before politicians take the issue seriously.

The government is almost paranoid about safety in the workplace and on the road yet appears to have ignored the safety of students on school buses. Nick Dalton Deputy editor