Buckling up on buses still rare on P.E.I., says motor coach company

An Island motor coach company says the Humboldt crashhasn'tled to more passengers buckling up on P.E.I. buses.

Five months after thecrash killed 16 people on the Humboldt Broncos team bus, some parents of the victimsare urgingbus passengers to wear seat belts on coach buses, as are some sportsteams and league officials.

The Canada Safety Council has made the same push.

But Mike Cassidy, the presidentof Coach Atlantic which charters buses for several Island sports teams says that message hasn't gotten through here on P.E.I.

"We do not think the Humboldttragedy, which was very close to home, changed attitudes," said Cassidy. "When you look at the majority of our fleet, do we have seat belts as an option? Yes we do. But doourcustomers use them? The answer is, very few."

Attitudes differ among Island sports teams

Holland College's athleticsdirector says he's trying to get more athletes using seat beltsat his school.Albert Roche says the college's teamsregularly travel out of province onCoach Atlantic buses, most of which have seat belts available.

He says coaches have never forced players to buckle up,but this seasonthey are at leastencouraging it.

"Humboldtwas a pretty serious circumstance. And who knows, maybesome of those deathscould've been prevented if the players were wearing seat belts," said Roche. "So we've brought it up that if the busis equipped with seat belts, to encourage student athletes to wear them."

Some Holland College athletes say they're listening.

"The Humboldt bus crash made me realize you might want to wear a seat belt, because you never know what's going to happen," said football player Tyler Hobbs.

"I want to make sure I do wear a seat belt for myself, and make sure everyone around me is doing that ... to decrease the chance of [an accident] being fatal," added teammate Owen Kramer.

Some of the camaraderie and team bonding happens when you're on the bus, playing cards, and goofing around.- Pat McIver, Summerside Western Capitalsgeneral manager

TheSummerside Western Capitals have a different mindset.

The junior hockey team's general manager Pat McIversays "he doesn't think" the buses they use are even equipped with seat belts. But even if they were, he doubts many players would use them.

"Some of the camaraderie and team bonding happens when you're on the bus, playing cards, and goofing around," said McIver."If you start not allowing that stuff to happen, it takes some of the joys of the junior hockey experience out of it."

Push for governments to educate and legislate

Cassidy, Coach Atlantic's president, says it will take a "cultural change" to get more Islanders wearing seat belts on buses.

He thinkssome of the onus is on provincial governments including P.E.I.'s to better educate and legislate.

"I can remember not buckling up in cars in the '70s. When did I start buckling up? When there was more information on the safety feature of seat belts, when therewas the law, and when it was enforced and you could be fined," said Cassidy.

It'd be kind of difficult to stop a bus, and then enter the bus to see if people are wearing their belts.- Graham Miner, P.E.I. director of highway safety

P.E.I.'s director of highway safety says by law, Islanders technically do have to buckle up on motor coach busesif seat belts are available.

Graham Miner says P.E.I.'s Highway Traffic Act doesn't specifically mention anything about motor coaches. But the act does require drivers and passengers to buckle up in all types of vehicles equipped with seat belts.

That said, Miner acknowledges that when it comes to buses, the seat belt lawis hard to enforce.

"It'd be kind of difficult to stop a bus, and then enter the bus to see if people are wearing their belts," he said.

Miner says his department may need to work harder to educate Islanders about the importance of wearing seat belts on buses.

He says that will become an easier job once more buses are actually equipped with them.

Transport Canada has mandated that by September 2020, all newly manufacturedmedium and large highway buses will require seat belts.

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