THUNDER BAY — A Thunder Bay woman is still upset after witnessing an incident Monday afternoon that put the safety of her children at serious risk, and cost a bus driver his job.
It happened after the school bus transporting Melanie Pelletier's four-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter stopped in front of their south-side home.
Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay has described the incident as "an extremely unsafe drop-off procedure, violating multiple key requirements in stopping and discharging students" and "resulting in a student nearly being struck by the bus."
Video captured by security cameras shows the bus beginning to move forward as the boy was about to cross in front of it, but stopping before he was struck..
Pelletier said there was also an issue with her daughter, whose backpack became pinched in the door when it closed while she was disembarking to follow her brother, forcing her to tear it off before the bus moved.
When the children crossed the road, the flashing red lights on the bus were no longer flashing, and its stop sign was retracted.
"I honestly had no clue what happened in that moment," Pelletier recalled in an interview Wednesday.
"I had to confirm it with my kids. I'm like 'Did the bus almost run you over?' I couldn't get a hold on that. That's when my daughter was telling me about her backpack, and I'm shaking. I called the transportation office right away."
Pelletier said STSTB — the consortium that coordinates busing for local school boards — asked to see the video and arranged for the driver to be suspended immediately.
Following an investigation, his employment was terminated by the bus company on Tuesday.
Although Pelletier would have liked to have seen the driver stay to check further on her children before he continued on his route, she said she expects he was just as dismayed as she was about what happened.
"I'm sure he was. Like, I was in shock. I didn't really have any angry feelings until later, when everything started hitting me, but I'm sure he was too."
She's not completely satisfied with how STSTB handled the incident.
"They only called me twice to see if the kids were okay and how I was doing. The kids were petrified to go back on the bus, but they did it, which I'm proud of."
Pelletier posted details about the incident, and the video, on social media saying she wants to draw attention to the importance of bus safety and "how quickly a precious life can be taken away."
She said she hopes bus companies find a way to get more qualified drivers, noting "apparently they go through extensive training, but it doesn't seem like it."
She also wonders if it would help to have another adult on buses to keep a closer watch on children and allow the drivers to focus on getting the kids off safely.
STSTB Manager Craig Murphy posted a statement about the incident on the consortium's Facebook page saying "School bus drivers must be held to the highest standards of safety considering the precious cargo they transport. Prior to obtaining a Professional School Bus Driver's licence they must receive many hours of specialized training, both in the classroom and on the road."
The statement added, "That's why [this] incident was extremely troubling for us and why we did not hesitate in acting swiftly."
