Debate contribution: Safety at School Bus Stops

Debate contribution by Mr Mark Durkan on 2 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Mark Durkan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

2 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Safety at School Bus Stops

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4980871

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Many of us will have a familiar school day routine and rush — alarms ringing, the battleground of breakfast and ushering children out the door, ensuring that they have everything they need for the day ahead, including lunchboxes, pencil cases, PE gear and a warm coat. They go to school, they learn, they laugh with their friends and count down the minutes until the bell rings. Then, just like every other day, they line up to go home, trusting that the same bus that carried them there will take them back home safely. With that comes the fundamental unspoken contract that, as parents, carers and school staff, we all hold to: when we send our children out in the morning to go to school, they will return to us safe and sound. I pay tribute to all those who, almost 100% of the time, play their part in making sure that they do: our school staff, bus drivers and so many others. For one family, 88 days ago, what should have been just another school day ended in horror and heartbreak with the devastating loss of their beautiful child Caitlin-Rose, who was doing what children across the country do every day — getting off a school bus. I thank Stella McMullan for her attendance here today and for her family's incredible courage in the face of such unimaginable grief. I never cease to be amazed and inspired by families who channel their loss and grief to ensure that other families do not have to suffer the same. It is a sad truth, however, that that tragedy was not an isolated incident but one of many. Each life lost is one too many. Across our communities, children have suffered life-changing injuries or lost their lives in similar circumstances after stepping off a school bus. Today, we are also joined by Amelia O'Neill, whose children Fintan and Mary were struck in 2017 and live with life-altering injuries; by Rosemary and Bob Hogg, whose 13-year-old daughter Caitlin was killed in 2022 in circumstances tragically similar to those of Caitlin-Rose; and by leading paediatric consultants, who know all too well the consequences of our inaction, and others who work every day to reduce deaths on our roads. Their testimonies and presence here today are moving, and they should move us all: they should move us to action and to commit ourselves to meaningful change. The motion calls for a straightforward and essential safety measure — a legal requirement for vehicles to stop when school buses are picking up or dropping off pupils. It is not radical or even new, but it is long overdue. In rural areas, in particular, where roads are narrow, footpaths are absent, visibility is poor and signage is inadequate, that measure could and will save lives. The Assembly has passed road safety motions before. We have commissioned reviews, but, today, we cannot just go through the motions of another motion. It must be a springboard to change: to changing the law to protect children. We support calls for a broader strategy involving the Department of Education, school transport providers and the PSNI. We need safer infrastructure, public awareness campaigns and shared responsibility. We need to review where buses stop and ensure that those spots are safe, but strategy is no substitute for law, which, in itself, will drive behavioural change. We will accept the second amendment, which seeks to enhance road safety around schools, and we, of course, welcome the continued roll-out of the 20 mph speed limit, a campaign that was started by the SDLP, and the commitment to model legislation on best practice elsewhere. We welcome the commitment that we have now seen on social media from the Minister to introduce the legislation that the motion calls for. We would have preferred to hear that in response to the motion, but that is irrelevant. It is so important that we have it today and that the families have it. I pay tribute to all of them for the role that they have played in getting us to this point. If we do not do this, more families will be left with grief that never ends. Do not just take my word for it. I quote Stella McMullan directly:

"This can't happen again. No parent should bury their child because we did not change the law when we had the chance."

That chance is now.

747 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:41 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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