September 23, 2009
(Click here to read the full article)
A British Columbia motor-vehicle inspector and mechanic is accusing Transport Canada of "negligence" for failing to educate the public — particularly the parents of schoolchildren — about the dangers of 15-passenger vans."Transport Canada has not issued any recommendations against using these vans. They're passing responsibility to the provinces and the school districts, and I think that's short-sighted thinking," said Bryan Murphy, a licensed vehicle inspector who works as a school bus mechanic and driver with School District 68 in Nanaimo, B.C.
"Transport Canada is negligent in not addressing this issue and bringing it to public attention."
Seven high school basketball students and a teacher were killed in 2008 when their 15-passenger van slammed into a transport truck in New Brunswick.
A coroner's inquest into the tragedy recommended that 15-passenger vans — called "death traps" by a U.S. consumer watchdog agency — be banned for student travel across Canada.
"I don't want to see more blood on our highways before people are finally made aware of the dangers of these vans, but it seems that's what it will take," said Murphy... Click here to read the rest of the article.
