Council to review easing bus safety light limits

CALGARY, Alberta  — The Calgary Herald reports that the Calgary City Council authored a motion to study expanding the areas where school buses can activate flashing safety lights or stop signs to halt traffic while children are unloading or boarding.

Current bylaws only allow school buses to use safety lights within a handful of areas in the city’s west end. City legislation that was passed in 1996 limits those areas to about 15 roads.

Ward 14 Councillor Peter Demong, co-author of the motion along with Ward 2 Councillor Joe Magliocca, told the newspaper that many parents in his ward have voiced concerns about traffic safety for children in school zones, particularly at K-4 schools where there are no older students to serve as traffic patrollers.

The issue came to the forefront last month when a 7-year-old boy was struck by a car after unloading from a school bus in Kincora, in Magliocca’s ward. The boy was taken to the hospital in life-threatening condition but was later upgraded to stable, according to Calgary Sun.

Police told Calgary Herald that the bus did have yellow flashing safety lights activated, but the driver who hit the boy was passing the vehicle, which is allowed within city limits.

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