Concerns raised after students board school bus without safety lights

By Shauna Hunt and Roshni Murthy

Photos shot by a CityNews viewer raise serious concerns about whether a particular school bus driver has been following safety protocol.

The photos, taken Friday morning, show a school bus pulled over near the intersection of Neptune Drive and Hotspur Road, in the area of Highway 401 and Bathurst Street, in North York.

Students from the Toronto Catholic District School Board were boarding the bus, but the vehicle’s flashing lights and stop sign were not activated. To the left of the bus, a car was passing by.

According to the Highway Traffic Act, school buses must active their lights when they stop more than 60 metres away from a controlled intersection.

“There was about three cars [that] went by,” said Bill Peyton, who took the photos.

Peyton said he asked the driver why his stop sign wasn’t in use.

“After all the kids were on board, I drove up, approached the bus, pumped my horn,” Peyton said.

“He opened the window and I asked him why his stop sign wasn’t out. He said, ‘It’s not working,’ closed the window [and] left.”

The bus company, Stock Transportation, confirmed the lights are working and said the driver would immediately go through “refresher training.”

“We appreciate this matter being brought to our attention as the safety of our students is our top priority,” spokeswoman Molly Hart said in an email.

“The stop arm was in working order … Our drivers are required to do a pre-and-post inspection of the bus each morning prior to route and after each route. Should they find anything wrong, they have the authority to pull the bus from service.”

About 10 to 15 students use the bus stop, and parents say it’s the second time this week their children’s safety has been compromised.

A parent named Joe said on Tuesday, he had to step out in traffic to stop cars from driving by as his son was boarding the bus. Joe said he told the driver the stop sign should be extended.

That same day, another parent complained about the unsafe situation.

Kevin Hodgkinson, general manager of the Toronto Student Transportation Group, said he finds the photo concerning.

“These are professional drivers and we expect that they are following the rules so that student safety is not put in jeopardy,” he said.

“We will be asking the company to bring both the driver and vehicle in immediately to discuss proper bus stop protocol.”

The driver, who has reportedly been on that route for less than a month, was replaced with a different driver on Friday afternoon.


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