Petition aims to put school minibus safety on the agenda

The NASUWT teachers’ union has launched a UK-wide petition to “put school minibus safety on the political agenda”.

The petition is the latest stage of a campaign by Liz and Steve Fitzgerald. Their 13-year-old daughter Claire was killed, along with 11 other pupils and their teacher, on 18 November 1993 when the school minibus they were travelling in crashed on the M40 near Warwick.

The union says that while much has been done to improve the safety of minibuses since the crash, it remains “deeply concerned” that the fundamental cause of the crash — a teacher driving a minibus when they should not have been — remains unresolved.

It urged parents, teachers and the public to sign the petition on the House of Commons website and call on their MP to back the campaign.

“Teachers can be expected to work for a full day in the classroom and then be asked to drive pupils often for hours at a time,” said NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach. “This is completely unacceptable and must not be allowed to continue.”

The petition calls on the government to remove Section 19 exemptions for schools in the Transport Act 1985.

This would mean that children and young people are only driven by qualified, professional drivers, with minibuses maintained to commercial standards by requiring a full Public Service Vehicle Operator’s Licence.