“Seatbelts on school buses” has been a topic of controversy ever since a young mother from Ste. Anne began a Facebook group called Manitoba Parents for Mandatory Seatbelts.

Petra McGowan says she began the group along with a few other parents who had expressed similar concerns for their children’s safety.

Since its creation on January 8th, the Facebook group has garnered 230 members, many from within local communities. Still, McGowan says not everyone agrees that seatbelts are necessary on buses, and their ideas have been met with some opposition.

“As a parent, I was very surprised when my daughter boarded the school bus for the first time and there were no seatbelts,” says McGowan who says many people who do not recognize this as a concern.

McGowan’s daughter attends school within the Seine River School Division and she acknowledges that there is little the school division can do independently of the provincial government to improve upon safety.

Seine River Secretary-Treasurer Paul Ilchena agrees with McGowan on this point. Whether or not the division feels seatbelts should be added to buses, it is a provincial decision that needs to be made.

Ilchena says this issue does tend to resurface every few years, though he adds that McGowan’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. “It’s been talked about for years now, but this might be one of those times where gears start turning and their might be a change coming, I don’t know.”

Seine River's Paul Ilchena says there is little the school division can do without provincial approval

At the crux of McGowan’s argument is the 1984 Transport Canada study that advocates for no seatbelts in school buses. She believes this conclusion is flawed. “The study itself only looks at front and rear collision, it completely omits sideways impacts and rollovers which, traditionally, are the most lethal kinds of accidents.”

One of the most common arguments McGowan is presented with is in regards to fatalities. In the past 30 years, there have been 23 student deaths while riding a school bus, an extremely low number when compared to other vehicular casualties.

McGowan responds: “Though deaths have been relatively low, the number of inures have been high. A lot of minor injuries, broken bones, or visits to the emergency room could have been prevented if kids were buckled in.”

McGowan says she started her Facebook group to dispel many of the deeply ingrained myths surrounding seatbelt usage, from children’s inability unbuckle themselves to the liability of the bus driver.

“Flying is the safest form of transportation in the world, but do we stop improving upon its safety when we learn about new risks?” she challenges.

Ultimately, McGowan feels that something needs to change, and Manitoba Parents for Mandatory Seatbelts is her way of responding to the perceived problem.