An online petition is calling on the Government of Canada to add seat belts on school buses across the country.

As of Tuesday morning, the petition had more than 83,000 signatures.

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“Thousands of Canadian children are being injured and in some cases killed because school buses aren’t equipped with seatbelts” reads the petition.

“I started this petition because I’m a school bus driver and I’m the only one to buckle up. Does that make sense? It’s a dollars over safety issue!”

Seat belts On School Buses

The petition was launched by Agassiz school bus driver Gary Lillico.

Lillico’s petition also mentions that there was a well-buried 2010 Transport Canada test crash study that revealed that school buses failed safety tests and didn’t prevent serious injuries.

The results of the test and study were originally not released. That is until CBC’s investigative report show The Fifth Estate made them public in October 2018.

“Nine states in the USA are required by law to have three-point seatbelts for all riders. Why can’t we do the same in Canada?”

As it currently stands, school buses in Canada do not have seat belts equipped in them.