October 13, 2015; “Ottawa School Bus Crash Sends 12 Children to CHEO (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) as reported by CBC News (www.cbc.ca). January 12th, 2016, The Canadian Press reporting on a school bus accident in Guelph states: “A 17-year-old has been charged with a traffic offence after allegedly causing a collision between a school bus and three other cars.” (Story posted on www.ctvnews.ca)
Transport Canada studied collisions involving school buses over a 10 year period and in their report School Bus Collisions 1995 to 2004 (posted on www.tc.gc.ca) they summarize the findings: “Only 0.3 percent of all collisions resulting in personal injury or death involved school buses. Yet over the past 10 years, children have travelled by bus as many as 6 billion times, an estimated 600 million pupil-trips per year and 3,400,000 pupil-trips per day. Over the 10-year period, 142 people died in collisions involving school buses; and only five of these fatalities were bus passengers. Transporting children by school bus remains one of the safest methods of transportation. During the past 10 years, five school bus passengers (three of them less than 19 years of age) and 137 others died in collisions involving school buses. To give some perspective, among young people 18 years of age and under involved in collisions involving automobiles, light trucks and vans, 3,554 fatalities occurred over the 10 year period. Of these, 959 were drivers, 2,014 were passengers, 34 bicyclists and 547 pedestrians, all less than 19 years of age.”
Transport Canada reports that since 1995, many improvements have been made to school buses including “improving the structural integrity of the roof and joints, the structure and design of the seats and seat backs to absorb the energy of a collision and keep the passenger contained, windows designed to prevent the passenger from being ejected, additional mirrors for greater visibility around the bus and improved swing arms and stop warning lamps to protect children when getting on or off the bus.”
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, or you have been involved in an accident involving a school bus, call us at Horowitz Injury Law today for a free consultation to discuss the merits of your case. We will help you get the compensation you deserve under the law; 416-925-4100.