Stiffer school bus inspection rules not enough, says NAPE

The president of the union representing highway enforcement officers says in the spirit of Christmas he will applaud the stiffer penalties for school bus inspection violations,butmore is needed.

Jerry Earle, with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, saidnew regulations announced Tuesdayare only a "step in the right direction."

The scope of work they have is tremendous.- Jerry Earle

"If you don't have the enforcement side, or adequate resources, then that becomes the concern," said Earle.

On Tuesday, Service NL Minister Eddie Joyce announced beefed up regulations, including bus reports being made available online, in addition to tougher penalties and higher fines.

Earle said there are only 38 enforcement officers for the entire province who are responsible for school buses, ambulances (private and public), public passenger buses, motor coaches, inspection stations and personal vehicles at roadside checkpoints.

"If you see dangerous loads being transported, they're responsible for that. Weigh scales across the island, they're responsible for that," said Earle.

"The scope of work they have is tremendous."

Each school bus in the province is inspected before the start of the school year, Earle said, and some are looked at again and that's where the job becomes daunting.

"People have to remember some of these buses are travelling down our highways on some very rough roads, very long distances and therefore there's wear and tear, so there's a length of time between inspections," he said.

"The spot checks are important. That's where resources can be challenging, to do those spot checks."

The future

Earle hopes to convince the minister to meet with him and someinspectors in 2017to discuss school bus inspections and resources.

He said inspectors know the job better than anyone and should be involved.

"What are the appropriate resources that we need? Is the inspection modelthat's there appropriate?" said Earle.

"Let's have a dialogue so that we can effectively do our work."

Industry's thumbs down

Meanwhile, aschool bus operator in western Newfoundland said thenew inspection regulations won't improve bus safety.

Come back in a week or two, there's a good chance you can find something wrong with that ol' rattlebucket.- Dave Callahan

Dave Callahan, head of the Newfoundland and Labrador School Bus Operators' Group, owns a fleet of buses.

He said the new regulations focusing on false inspections is just a small part of the problem.

"Nobody condones that. That is absolutely, 100 per cent unfathomable that it goes on, and not excusable," he said.

"The new regulations would help in having some meat to deal with that situation, but it's like stamping on a little flame outside of a forest fire."

A bigger problem, said Callahan, is the amount of service buses put in.

"If you've got a bus today that checks out perfect, it's got 500,000klickson it," he said.

"Comeback in a week or two, there's a good chance you can find something wrong with that ol'rattlebucket."