Pupils’ brush with death
One metre is all that separated two pupils from a speeding ute overtaking a stationary school bus on a rural Manawatu¯ road.
The narrow encounter occurred on a long straight, near Kiwitea, on Thursday last week and has prompted a reminder to motorists to slow down when passing a stationary school bus.
The Kiwitea School principal and bus driver watched in horror as the vehicle took evasive action at the last second, narrowly missing two pupils who had started to cross the road.
It is estimated the ute was travelling at 100kmh.
The Ministry of Education requires buses to drop children on the left side of the road. If they need to cross, the driver will instruct them when it is safe.
The two children failed to wait for instructions and stepped onto the road. A ute then flew past.
‘‘Their hair pricked up [in the wind] it was that close,’’ driver Joyce Seymour said. ‘‘I tried to put my window down to yell out. [The ute] didn’t slow down at all.’’
The speed limit for passing a stationary school bus dropping off or picking up children is 20kmh.
According to the Rode Code, pedestrians can survive a collision at 20kmh, but 20 per cent would die at 50kmh.
‘‘I think all of us didn’t sleep that night,’’ said Kiwitea principal Jane Portman, who was also on the bus. She said pupils had been refreshed on the school’s bus rules, such as staying seated until the vehicle was stationary.
The route has also been reorganised so no children would have to cross the road.
Bus contractor Bernard Lilburn has operated the Kiwitea bus route since 1993. He said motorists were driving faster than ever and ignoring basic speed rules. ‘‘We’re lucky we’ve had a very near miss.’’
All children wore hi-vis vests when waiting on the side of the road, and drivers attended safety training twice a year, he said.