Heartbroken County Derry mum calls for review on school bus passes

The mother of a young girl from County Derry who died after being struck by a car moments after getting off her school bus has called for more regulation around how school bus passes are issued to pupils.

Caitlin-Rose McMullan passed away in March this year following the collision on the Hillhead Road near Castledawson.

The 11 year-old was coming home from St Pius X College in Magherafelt, where she was a year eight pupil, when the tragedy occurred.

Since her death, the Castledawson girl’s heartbroken mum Stella has been campaigning for improved bus safety in the North.

Back in June, it emerged that there are plans to bring forward legislation to prohibit drivers overtaking school buses which have stopped to drop off or pick up passengers.

Speaking in Stormont at the time, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins announced her intention to bring the legislation forward, stating that she had asked her department officials to ‘explore the issue’.

During a visit to south Derry on Tuesday, the minister met with Stella McMullan, who brought her to the site where her beloved daughter was killed.

“She couldn’t believe that this was the spot that Caitlin-Rose got off the bus,” Stella told the County Derry Post.

Caitlin-Rose was a year 8 pupil at St Pius X College in Magherafelt who was only 11 when the tragedy occurred.

“Where Caitlin-Rose exited the bus there is no footpath, it's a mucky grass verge and there is no bus shelter. Children have been getting off the bus here for years. She (the minister) agreed that this isn’t safe.”

Earlier in the day, the Minister also approved a number of road safety measures on the Hillhead Road at the Rocktown Road and Broagh Road junctions. These include a hard stand bus stop, a short footpath and new bus shelter.

Stella says she wants to see the undesignated bus stop where her daughter lost her life to be removed from Translink’s scheduled stops.

“They have taken off the Rocktown Road bus stop but they haven’t removed this one, even though half a mile down the road beside the Thatch Bar is a designated bus stop,” continued Stella.

“Caitlin-Rose got off a double decker bus and a single decker bus pulled up behind. She came in between the two buses, she stepped across the line to see if it was safe and she got hit. Her neck snapped and she basically died at the scene because she couldn’t see, she was blindsided. Caitlin-Rose got killed because of negligence of where Translink pulls the buses in on a road where DfI have a 60mph speed limit. Had there been more safety measures in place my daughter would still be alive today.”

With the new school year due to commence next week, Stella is now calling on Translink and the Education Authority to do more to improve bus safety and to change how bus passes are issued.

One of her main concerns is that children are allowed to dictate where the bus leaves them off.

“I asked the Minister why she was allowing children to stand up on the bus and say ‘I want to get off here’,” said Stella.

“The child should not be in charge of the bus, the bus driver should be in charge of the child. Where is the safety in this? It’s my understanding that the child just gets up off their seat and says to the bus driver ‘I’m getting off here’ and they pull over. A child can’t be in charge of a bus. My daughter was 11, we live in the country, she had never walked to a shop before. This law has been like this for 30 odd years, people have been trying to change this law for years.

“I want the Education Authority to relook at how they are issuing bus passes to children. As I said in Stormont that day my child was issued a death notice. What I would like to say to parents is take two minutes out of your day and go and look where your child is getting picked up and dropped off by the school bus and make your decision if you think that is safe because we can’t put our faith in the Education Authority that’s issuing the bus passes because there is no safety behind them.

“Just because you are issued a bus pass there is zero safety within that bus pass. The bus passes are just issued as getting children to and from school and that can’t be the case. The Education Authority needs to look at how they issue bus passes and where children are being picked up and dropped off. They can look at satellite images, they don’t even need to go to the road to see it’s not safe.”

Teddies and floral tributes pictured at the scene where Caitlin-Rose lost her life.

Stella insists she won’t stop trying to raise awareness to prevent further tragedies.

“I started the campaign, this is not a politician thing, it was me as a grieving mother who stood and started this campaign. This is not about politicians and politics, this is about a grieving mother trying to save other kids' lives.

“I wanted to do something in Caitlin-Rose’s memory and also save other kids’ lives. It’s not a case of whether this is going to happen again, it’s when. The likes of Damien Gates, the surgeon who was trying to save Caitlin-Rose, even said they have been trying for 30 years and you’re the only person where someone has listened to their voice.

“Realistically they put a few posters on the back of buses, they put 20mph speed limits outside the schools, which is appreciated, but kids aren’t dying outside schools, kids are dying in rural areas. They are spending all this money outside schools, it can’t be outside schools, it needs to be at rural stops.

“The Education Authority also needs to raise more awareness in primary schools. It’s no use bringing it in in first year, it needs to be taught at primary three and primary four age - how to board a bus and how to exit a bus - because we can tell our children what to do but they aren’t going to listen to us. There needs to be some sort of curriculum going into the schools.”

Stella added: “I am surviving day-to-day, it’s not like I am living. I am trying to keep Caitlin-Rose’s memory alive by making people aware of the safety issues. I could be lying in bed now but I thought 'no, I’m not going to. How many times has this happened before someone has stood up and said no?'

"The law needs to be changed. Even though there has been legislation passed by Stormont, it can take up to two years before this is put into place. How many deaths are there going to be before this is going to be put in place? By the end of next summer there will be a new election and if this isn’t passed I need to start all over again.

"I’m not stopping though, I only have one daughter and I don’t have her now, 11 years-old, robbed of her whole life because of negligence.”

A spokesperson for Translink said: “As schools prepare to reopen on Monday, September 1, Translink is sharing essential travel advice.

“With over 60,000 pupils using Translink services daily, this is one of the busiest times of the year for public transport. To support a safe and efficient return to school, Translink is encouraging everyone to plan ahead, check timetables, and stay alert when travelling. A dedicated web page has been set up for school services: https://www.translink.co.uk/school-services to help with planning.

“Safety remains our top priority. Every day, Translink safely transports tens of thousands of children to and from school, and we continue to work closely with the Education Authority, the Department for Infrastructure, and schools to ensure high standards of pupil safety.

“We urge parents and carers to remind pupils to be especially vigilant when getting off school buses. Wait until the bus has moved off before crossing the road, and only cross when and where it is safe to do so. Avoid distractions such as mobile phones or earphones when crossing.

“To support accessibility and reduce walking distances – particularly on smaller rural roads – school services operate a request stop system, allowing buses to stop where it is safe to do so.”

A spokesperson for the Education Authority said: “The Education Authority provides transport assistance for over 95,000 pupils and students each day and pupil safety is our key priority. We work closely with all service providers to ensure that high standards of pupil safety are in place across the school transport network and will be running a social media campaign to remind pupils and parents of the need to be vigilant when boarding and exiting school buses.

The spot where Caitlin-Rose was knocked down moments after exiting the school bus.

“We urge parents and carers to remind pupils to be especially vigilant when getting off school buses, waiting until the bus has moved off before crossing the road, and only cross when and where it is safe to do so and the need to avoid distractions when crossing roads.

“Due to the varying needs of pupils, particularly in rural areas, EA provide bus passes to eligible pupils allow travel between a pupil’s home address and the school attended as flexibly as possible, allowing travel to and from stops along the route.

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“To support accessibility and reduce walking distances, Translink school services operate a request stop system, allowing buses to stop at a pupil’s request where it is safe to do so. This is done on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the bus driver. We will continue to work with all partners to keep all road safety measures under continual review as appropriate.”