Forgotten bus crash

To no one’s surprise in our industry, news editors selected the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy as the No. 1 Canadian news story of the year.

The story connected with Canadians because it dealt with hockey — our national pastime — and people identified with it happening in rural Saskatchewan. Anybody who had ever participated in competitive athletics has riden on a highway cruiser and in all kinds of inclement weather.

There were dozens of followup stories, including one calling for mandatory seatbelts on buses.

Some believe passengers are actually safer without the belts, but there’s more evidence to the contrary.

Canadians will remember the Broncos’ story for generations, but quickly forgotten was the “Boys in Red” accident of Jan. 12, 2008, outside of Bathhurst, New Brunswick. A van carrying a high school basketball team collided with a semi, resulting in the deaths of seven players and the coach’s wife, along with injuries to four other players.

It was headline news across the country for about two days, quickly forgotten until this year’s Broncos’ crash.

There wasn’t an outpouring of national sympathy, perhaps because “Go Fund Me” hadn’t been invented yet and the internet was in its infancy.

Unlike junior hockey players who live in a community for only a year or two, these Bathurst kids would have been classmates since elementary school.

That was 10 years ago. Between then and now, there was an accident involving high school students from Penticton on their way back from the H20 Centre in 2011. The bus, driven by a teacher, collided with two other vehicles, killing one occupant. (Canadian sports legend Elaine Tanner was a passenger in the other vehicle.)

Then, just last month, a crash near Cache Creek occurred involving a girl’s volleyball team from Prince George that resulted in seven players being sent to hospital.

Seatbelts must be mandatory for highway cruisers and school buses. The time is now.