CBC Television News

It’s a question parents have asked for decades: Why don’t school buses have seatbelts? For years, Transport Canada has claimed buses are actually safer without them. This Fifth Estate five-month investigation discovered flaws in its seatbelt ‘science’ and pivotal 1984 study which kept seatbelts off school buses across North America for more than 30 years. It constructed a database of dozens of studies and academic journals, and revealed that the school bus industry has lobbied against seatbelts to keep costs down. It discovered that Transport Canada itself concluded eight years ago that school buses with seatbelts would have prevented numerous deaths and thousands of injuries. Transport Minister Marc Garneau formed a task force to study the issue. The Ontario School Bus Association came out in favour of three-point seatbelts. And, starting Sept 1, 2020, seat belts will be mandatory on medium and large highway buses in Canada. CBC Television News was also awarded a Citation of Merit.