NSW: Calls for improved bus safety after schoolgirl injured

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2000
NSW: Calls for improved bus safety after schoolgirl injured

By Alec Brown

SYDNEY, April 13 AAP - An accident in which a schoolgirl was dragged by a bus after
the doors closed on her backpack sparked renewed calls for improved bus safety today.

Nine-year-old Samantha Zarb suffered a fractured pelvis, cuts to her legs and possible
internal injuries in the accident at Grafton in northern New South Wales yesterday.

The girl was in a stable condition today at the Royal Childrens' Hospital in Brisbane.

John Donley, whose five-year-old daughter Rachel died in 1994 after her foot was caught
in the rear doors of a government bus in Sydney, said the latest accident highlighted
the need for greater improvements to bus safety.

"I called my wife and told her about it and `Oh God, it's happened again' was her reaction,"

Mr Donley said.

"These things will happen unless they get proper school buses.

"I always thought local councils should have dedicated school buses, properly fitted
out with seat belts."

Mr Donley called for the statewide introduction of bus immobilisers - previously tested
in New South Wales - which stopped the vehicle when an item the size of a pen, or bigger,
became stuck in its doors.

He said such changes should be introduced for both government and privately-run bus companies.

"It doesn't matter about the size of the bus company - we're talking about kids' lives
here," he said.

"If they want to be school buses, they should have all the safety devices on them.

"It all comes down to dollars and cents."

Yesterday's accident at Grafton was the latest in a series involving school buses.

A year after Rachel's death, an eight-year-old girl was injured when she was dragged
along by a bus at Illawong in Sydney's south.

And in 1997, five-year-old Eric Evans was killed at Wahroonga, in Sydney's north, when
he was hit by a four-wheel drive as he crossed a road behind his school bus.

AAP ab/sb/pjs

KEYWORD: DRAGGED NIGHTLEAD

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