As university, junior and minor sports leagues get back into the swing of things this fall, it’s hard to forget about the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6.
Hundreds of teams across Canada will be making similar bus trips to get to games and tournaments this year, and a lot of those teams will be making sure they buckle up.
Seatbelt use on buses has been put into the spotlight since the April crash and at least one team is pledging to “buckle up for the Broncos.”
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s rugby team say they’ll make it a habit to wear seatbelts on the team’s bus.
Although it’s not a team rule, almost everyone has jumped on board with the initiative.
"We haven’t made it policy so we haven’t forced anybody," said head coach Neil Langevin, who took his second−ever selfie and posted it on Twitter to set an example. "We’re just raising awareness and making it a challenge on our team."
The Pronghorns’ team manager is Toby Boulet, whose son Logan was one of 16 people to die in the Humboldt Broncos tragedy.
There has been a push from other players and parents involved in the Broncos bus crash to change the seatbelt laws in buses across Canada.
For now, however, it’s still legal to not buckle up on buses in many Canadian provinces and territories, which you can see below:
- British Columbia: The ministry of transportation says the BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations require motorists and passengers to use seatbelts in all vehicles. That means if a motor coach has a seatbelt, passengers are required by law to use them.
- Alberta: The province requires a passenger to wear a seatbelt when it is provided. The regulation exempts vehicles that were manufactured without seatbelts. Transport Canada says all newly built highway buses must have seatbelts by Sept. 1, 2020 and Alberta says it will enforce that rule.
- Saskatchewan: The province requires a seatbelt to be used if the vehicle was manufactured with seatbelts. The province says they will comply when the new rules for seatbelts on buses are brought in.
- Manitoba: The province says they will amend their regulations to reflect the updated federal standards in 2020 and officers enforce the Highway Traffic Act.
- Ontario: The province says drivers and passengers must use a seatbelt when it’s provided. If the motor vehicle is manufactured without a seat belt, it is exempt from the requirement.
- New Brunswick: The province says it’s exploring what affect the federal changes will have on its existing legislation to determine what’s next.
- Prince Edward Island: The province says it’s reviewing its local regulations to comply with the new federal requirement in 2020.
- Newfoundland and Labrador: The province’s Highway Traffic Act requires that seatbelts must be used by drivers and passengers when they are provided. The government says it will adjust legislation to support the updated Transport Canada manufacturing requirements.
- Yukon: The territory says it is in the process of rewriting the Motor Vehicles Act. Passengers on buses, including school buses, transit buses, motor coaches and motorhomes are currently exempt from wearing seatbelts.
- Northwest Territories: Since its rules mirror federal legislation, the territory’s Motor Vehicles Act does not require seatbelts to be worn if the person is in a vehicle that was manufactured without a federal requirement for seatbelts. The territory has not decided if it will make seatbelts mandatory for buses that were on the road before 2020.
