SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2006

School Bus Safety Roulette
August 7, 2006

Both the Opposition and Australian Education Union yesterday said the accident at Karkoo, about 25km north of Cummins, highlighted the need for seatbelts to be fitted to all school buses.

But Acting Education Minister Paul Holloway said the Government "was still looking at the option of seatbelts on school buses".

AEU state president Andrew Gohl, who was among many to call for school bus seatbelts after a Waikerie crash injured 18 students 256 days ago, said cost should not be the major issue.

"Try telling grieving parents that it cost too much to fit a seatbelt," he said.

"At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have been badgering the education department and the minister to act.

"School buses are involved in crashes with alarming regularity.

"Prevention is preferable to regret. If an investment on seatbelts in buses saves just one life, then it will be worth it."

In November, Western Australia became the first state to make seatbelts compulsory in school buses after its State Government bowed to public pressure.

But SA Road Safety Advisory Council chairman Sir Eric Neal said in March that such a move here was not a priority and that fitting all education department buses with belts would cost $70 million.

The department owns 300 buses, another 300 are privately owned and some others are run by contractors for private schools.

Opposition transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith yesterday urged the Government to install seatbelts in school buses "sooner rather than later".

"The Government must now consider that seatbelts be installed in existing buses. It's obviously come to that," he said. "They need to phase in seatbelts to all school buses over the next few years.

"Consideration needs to be given to it in the forthcoming Budget (next month)."

In yesterday's incident, the bus and a utility collided on Wagner Rd, a dirt road about 5km from Karkoo, about 8.30am.

The crash spun both vehicles and tore metal from the bus, which was transporting the eight children to the Karkoo Primary School.

Two of the children, aged eight and 13, were seriously hurt and airlifted to Adelaide, where their conditions were stable last night. The six other children - two eight-year-olds, three aged 10 and an 11-year-old - hit their heads on seats and were taken to the Cummins and District Memorial Hospital.

The 39-year-old female bus driver, from Karkoo, and the 49-year-old male utility driver, from Yeelanna, were cut from the wreckage and also had to be flown to Adelaide for treatment.

None of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening.

Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith met Transport Minister Patrick Conlon last Tuesday to discuss installing seat belts on school buses.

Mr Holloway yesterday said SA buses adhered to national safety guidelines, citing the Road Safety Advisory Council recommendation that money would be best spent on other road safety initiatives.

"School bus transport is regarded as one of the safest forms of road transport in Australia," he said.

"All the advice we have been presented with nationally suggests that the greatest risk to children's safety is when they hop on and off the bus. The national advice in relation to seat belts on school buses has not changed in recent years and the focus at a national level has moved more to assessing road risks and hazards.

"However, we will always look at the facts of an accident and see if we need to rethink our safety measures, particularly in light of the Education Minister's concerns."

In February, 11 children aged between six and 15 were taken to hospital when a school bus and a car collided near Kimba.

In December, 17 students from Ashford Special School and a bus driver were injured when their bus crashed in the Riverland.

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