{"id":55981,"date":"2025-06-02T14:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/bus-safety-laws-could-have-saved-daughters-life\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T14:06:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:06:47","slug":"bus-safety-laws-could-have-saved-daughters-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/bus-safety-laws-could-have-saved-daughters-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Bus safety laws ‘could have saved daughter’s life’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Catherine Doyle<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC News NI<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FamilyFamily handout<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Caitlin-Rose McMullan died after being hit by a car <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A mother whose 11-year-old daughter died when exiting her school bus has called for better road safety in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Caitlin-Rose McMullan died after being hit by a car<\/a> in Castledawson, County Londonderry, in March.<\/p>\n

Stella McGinn said her daughter may not have lost her life if there had been “bus safety in place”.<\/p>\n

It comes as plans are in place to bring forward legislation to prohibit drivers overtaking buses which have stopped to drop off or pick up their passengers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms McGinn said Caitlin-Rose was “blindsided” when she walked out between two buses and “couldn’t see traffic coming”. <\/p>\n

“My daughter unfortunately died on a 60mph road with no footpath, with no bus shelter and basically got off her bus on a mucky, grass verge – so the bus pass that she [was] issued, I thought was a death sentence,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘It’s about saving kids’ lives’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\"PAPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ms McGinn, whose daughter died exiting a school bus, says it’s important to “get bus safety out there”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Calls have been made for new laws to improve school bus safety in Northern Ireland since Caitlin-Rose’s death.<\/p>\n

Ms McGinn said there are “no words to describe” how poor the safety around the bus stop was. <\/p>\n

She said she’s working with the infrastructure minister “to get bus safety out there”, and added that: “It’s about saving kids’ lives.”<\/p>\n

“I just felt that I had to reach out and do something, because it’s not like this isn’t going to happen again. It’s when will this happen again,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Lives being devastated’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Liz Kimmins says strengthening the law ‘is an important step in further improving safety for children’<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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There are plans to bring forward legislation to prohibit drivers overtaking school buses which have stopped to drop off or pick up their passengers.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said “tragic events” have highlighted the safety of children getting on or off school buses.<\/p>\n

“I believe strengthening the law around this issue is an important step in further improving safety for children here,” she said.<\/p>\n

The St Pius X College, Magherafelt, pupil was described by her school as being “a very popular pupil who was always smiling”.<\/p>\n

Currently in Northern Ireland there is no legal requirement for other vehicles to stop when a school bus is picking up or dropping off pupils.<\/p>\n

In some parts of the United States, it is a motoring offence to overtake a school bus when it has stopped.<\/p>\n

Safety measures in these jurisdictions include retractable stop signs on the left-hand side of buses which flashes amber or red when children are exiting.<\/p>\n

Kimmins, who announced her intention to bring the legislation forward, said she has asked her department officials to “explore the issue”.<\/p>\n

“Too many families have had their world shattered by receiving the worst possible news after a loved one has set out on a routine journey,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I have met grieving families and heard their heart breaking stories. I am committing to introducing legislation to help prevent more lives being devastated.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Slow down’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\"Flowers,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Caitlin-Rose McMullan’s school described her as “a very popular pupil who was always smiling”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

‘Common-sense legislation’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA Patsy McGlone said it’s important to improve road safety for children in memory of Caitlin-Rose.<\/p>\n

“Everyday across Mid Ulster and across the north, cars speed past school buses, gambling with children’s lives,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The tragic death of Caitlin-Rose McMullan in March has seen a young life cut far too short, devastating her family and our community, and we as legislators need to do everything we can to prevent this from happening again.”<\/p>\n

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine said the possible legislation is a “vital step in protecting our children as they travel to and from school”. <\/p>\n

“Far too often, we have seen reckless behaviour around school buses that puts young lives at risk,” she said. <\/p>\n

“Families have been left heartbroken by the loss of children.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Issue first raised over 20 years ago<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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It is now more than 20 years since a motion came before Northern Ireland’s Assembly asking for an urgent investigation into how children could be better protected getting on and off school buses.<\/p>\n

The 2002 motion came just months after the death of 14-year-old Julie Louise Meldrum from Kesh, Co Fermanagh.<\/p>\n

The teenager had been knocked down as she got off the bus outside her home in December 2001.<\/p>\n

The assembly motion had been brought forward by then Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy.<\/p>\n

He said in 2001, around 300 schoolchildren had been injured travelling to and from school.<\/p>\n

Patricia Lewsley-Mooney, at the time a SDLP MLA who would later become the children’s commissioner in Northern Ireland, remembers that was among a number of road safety improvements discussed.<\/p>\n

It is a move that “still makes perfect sense”, she told BBC News NI, and one that would also need other drivers to comply with the required law changes.<\/p>\n

“Back then it was decided we would go down a different route, we would put better red warning lights on the back of buses.”<\/p>\n

That more than 20 years later there are still safety improvement calls, she said, is disappointing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Catherine Doyle BBC News NI Family handout Caitlin-Rose McMullan died after being hit by a car A mother whose 11-year-old daughter died when exiting her school bus has called for better road safety in Northern Ireland. Caitlin-Rose McMullan died after being hit by a car in Castledawson, County Londonderry, in March. Stella McGinn said her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[6433,2536,4306,283,911,1072],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55983,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55981\/revisions\/55983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}