Forget 'misconceptions' and buckle up on buses, RCMP officer says after deadly B.C. crash
Forget 'misconceptions' and buckle up on buses, RCMP officer says after deadly B.C. crash
KELOWNA, B.C. -
An RCMP officer who interviewed survivors of the deadly Christmas Eve bus crash near Merritt, B.C., says it's time for passengers to throw out their false sense of security on buses and buckle up.
“I think there's a misconception that, because the buses are so large that if they get into a crash, they're so high up, they're going to be OK,” Const. James Ward said in an interview Thursday.
“But that's not the event, as we've seen here, if the bus is to flip over.”
RCMP investigators said in a statement that the bus was travelling west from Kelowna towards Merritt when it went off the road, crossed the median and flipped onto its side, coming to rest in the eastbound lanes.
Four people died and dozens were injured. Police have said they suspect extremely icy road conditions played a role.
The statement said the bus, operated by Alberta-based Ebus, had seatbelts but “unfortunately it appears the majority of passengers were not wearing them.”
“I do know from speaking to some of the victims that the ones that were wearing seatbelts, the majority of them received minor injuries,” Ward said in the interview. “The ones not wearing seatbelts all received significant injuries.”
Ward said he is calling for a culture shift that reinforces the importance of buckling up on buses that goes beyond law enforcement.
“As the law stands, if the seat is equipped with a seatbelt, you're supposed to wear it. Unfortunately, trying to enforce that is next to impossible,” Ward said.
He said bus drivers don't have enforcement powers, and police often aren't able to see inside a bus while it is moving.
“The law is only in effect if the vehicle is in motion, so if we pull over a bus and we walk on it to audit it, well, by virtue of the bus being stopped, the seatbelt law is no longer in effect,” he said.
Instead, Ward said, a potential solution would be for bus drivers, like flight attendants, to make sure everyone is strapped in before the vehicle starts moving.
Bus safety advocate Gary Lillico said he has been pushing the issue of seatbelts for years.
He launched a petition in 2018 calling for Transport Canada to install three-point lap and shoulder seatbelts on every Canadian school bus and legally require children to wear them while on board.
“It's just a couple of seconds to prevent injury and possibly save a life,” he said in an interview. “To me, I can't see how anybody would not want to wear a seatbelt.”
Lillico, a former school bus driver, said he had met with paramedics, firefighters, police, doctors, emergency room staff and teachers to discuss the importance of wearing seatbelts.
“I never really met anybody that doesn't advocate (for wearing seatbelts) except for a couple of trolls on one of the Facebook pages, but that's about it. It's a bit of a no-brainer,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2022.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
After raising interest rates eight consecutive times, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told an audience in Quebec City on Tuesday that inflation is showing signs of 'turning the corner' and that the coming year 'will be different.'
Residents digging through a collapsed building in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble from this week's devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday.
The British Columbia government has introduced legislation to make Sept. 30 a paid statutory holiday marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Canadians now believe they need $1.7 million in savings in order to retire, a 20 per cent increase from 2020, according to a new BMO survey. The eye-watering figure is the largest sum since BMO first started surveying Canadians about their retirement expectations 13 years ago.
Three men who disappeared after planning to rap at a Detroit party were killed by multiple gunshots, police said Tuesday, five days after their bodies were found in a vacant, rat-infested building.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands announced Tuesday that they plan to provide Ukraine with at least 100 refurbished Leopard 1 battle tanks, a pledge that comes as Kyiv anticipates a new Russian offensive around the anniversary of its invasion.
Another British Columbia university has taken back the honorary degree it bestowed on retired judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond after an investigation raised doubts about her claims of Indigenous heritage.
B.C.'s police watchdog has cleared the Victoria Police Department of wrongdoing after officers found a man dead inside his home during a wellness check last year.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The Tsuut'ina Police Service, which serves a community west of Calgary, is expected to share more details about the case against former Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse, CTV News has learned.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars, a CTV News Toronto investigation has found.
Nearly five years after Matthew Staikos was gunned down in Toronto, the family of the tech CEO has renewed a $250,000 reward in the unsolved murder case.
The Laurier Macdonald High School in Montreal's Saint-Leonard borough was placed into lockdown Tuesday afternoon due to a threat, but Montreal police say they believe it appears to be unfounded.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
A former medical student who claims he fatally shot a fellow student in self-defence during a drug deal in Halifax denied Tuesday he planned to kill the man and steal the marijuana he was carrying.
London police are searching for three suspects who allegedly broke into a home in the downtown core on Monday and assaulted an occupant with a baseball bat, before stealing cash and drugs.
Multiple robbery, weapons and drug charges have been laid against a man and a woman who police allege robbed a Walmart in Goderich last month, according to Huron County OPP.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars, a CTV News Toronto investigation has found.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) is appealing for witnesses after an arrest in Stratford sent a 34-year-old man to hospital for treatment of a serious injury.
