School buses are the safest way to transport school children. At the same time, Transport Canada (TC) continues to work with provincial and territorial (PT) partners to find ways to make school buses even safer.
Governed by stringent regulations and standards, school buses are built to protect children (e.g. high roof crush standards, compartmentalized/padded seats, window retention to prevent ejection, flashing lights).
Research confirms that three-point seatbelts can also provide a layer of safety in certain rare but severe school bus collision scenarios. At the same time, there are financial and operational matters that must be considered (e.g. potential seatbelt misuse, proper belt adjustment, emergency evacuations, and liability).
In July 2018, TC published regulations for the optional installation of three-point seatbelts on school buses. At present, the decision rests with owners/operators and school boards, together with provinces and territories, to determine whether to install them.
On January 21, 2019, the federal/provincial/territorial Council of Ministers responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety established a Task Force on School Bus Safety mandated to review safety standards and operations, both inside and outside the bus, with an emphasis on seatbelts.
The Task Force released a preliminary report in June 2019, identifying three key areas to consider strengthening school bus safety:
Safety Features outside the bus (e.g. measures to protect children in or near school bus loading zones, where they are most at risk); and
Occupant protection (e.g. three-point seatbelts).
In June 2019, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities published a report recommending the Government continue to support the work of the Task Force and its recommendations, noting that seatbelts are not the only solution to increasing school bus safety.
TC is working to secure an agreement with a school board to conduct a pilot to assess the operational considerations associated with the use of three-point seatbelts on school buses.
In parallel, the Department continues to work with partners on the Task Force to finalize a report, for consideration at the January 2020 meeting of the Council of Ministers.
