'No-brainer' seatbelt law for school buses would protect kids, says driver leading push for change

A B.C. bus driver is one step closer to achieving his goal of having students buckle up when they ride the school bus.

Fraser Valley driver Gary Lillicohas more than 100,000 signatures on a petition he started in the spring urging Transport Canada to make seatbelts in school buses mandatory.

On Monday, Lillico will be at the B.C. Legislatureto watch Laurie Throness, MLA for Chilliwack-Kent, put forward a private member's bill that would do just that.

The billstates that no personsell, offer for sale or purchase a school bus after Sept. 1, 2021 unless all seats are equipped with seatbelts.

"It's a big tin can ... If the kids aren't belted in, they are going to go flying," said Lillico on CBC's The Early Edition Monday.

Lillico, whose regular route between Agassiz and Chilliwack takes him onto Highway 1, started driving a year ago and was upset to see a seatbelt for himself but nothing for the kids.

"When a little kindergarten girl comes wandering up, or kids are standing in the aisle when you are doing 100 km/h or 110 km/h, it's pretty dangerous, pretty distracting," Lillico said.

Past studies

In June, a committee made up of federal members of parliamentwho probed bus-passenger safety in Canada decided not to call for mandatory seatbelts in school buses, urging further study instead.

The House of Commons transportation committee launched an investigation into bus safety, including on school buses, following the Humboldt Broncos crash in Saskatchewan last year that killed 16 people and injured 13.

Last fall, CBC'sFifth Estatedid a deep dive into safety on Canadian school buses,exposingholes in an influential 1984 Transport Canada study that claimed seatbeltsare not only unhelpful they may also cause injuries.

Transport Canada has since stated on its website that seatbelts, when worn properly, do "offer added protection for school-age children."

For Lillico, it's a "no-brainer" that children like those he drives daily need to be buckled in:

"Two million children in Canada ride a school bus every year and they should be protected," he said.

To hear the complete interview withGary Lillicotap the audio link below: