Parent of injured student says seatbelts needed after driver charged in school bus crash

Ontario Provincial Police in Oxford County have charged a 34-year-old bus driver with careless driving causing bodily harm after a school bus carrying 40 stu‐ dents rolled onto its side south of Woodstock, Ont., on Tuesday morning.

Several kids were taken to hospital, including one by air ambulance, after the bus rolled on a rural road shortly after 8 a.m.. Five other chil‐ dren suffered minor injuries, the OPP said Tuesday evening.

The kids were headed to Woodstock Christian School, and when news of the crash reached parents, many came as quickly as they could. Neighbours and other dri‐ vers, whom police thanked as "Good Samaritans", were quick to help.

Elizabeth Peters's three young kids were on the bus, and her nine-year-old son Asher fractured his elbow af‐ ter it smashed into one of the windows as the bus rolled over, she said.

"He had to be taken to hospital and he has a cast. Thankfully that was the only cast any kid ended up need‐ ing, so I'm very thankful it wasn't worse," said Peters. "The fact that God kept everyone safe, that's just an amazing thing."

Peters said this is the sec‐ ond time her children have been involved in a bus crash. Earlier this year, the school bus they were in collided with another vehicle, she said, adding that it was not as serious as what happened on Tuesday.

Although she's grateful that there were no cata‐ strophic injuries, Peters won‐ dered why there aren't seat‐ belts on school buses which could help avoid such situa‐ tions, she said.

"In what other area do we have a whole bunch of little kids on these seats just able to bounce around and fall? It just seems odd, especially because we've had to deal with things with like kids get‐ ting up and walking around when they shouldn't be," she said.

"It just seemed weird to me that with all the other precautions and safety things that we have here in Canada that we don't have seatbelts on a bus for 40 kids. And one bus driver, like it was a bit of a bad recipe."

When responding to the incident during a news con‐ ference on Tuesday, Ontario's Education Minister Stephen Lecce sidestepped a question about why there aren't seat‐ belts on school buses.

"This just happened so let's allow this independent school to conclude an investi‐ gation and let's focus on the safety of the children. I think our focus right now should be our collective prayer to make sure these kids are safe and they get home," said Lec‐ ce.

The driver of the bus also suffered minor injuries, police said. He's scheduled to appear in Woodstock court on April 18.