Hansard Report; Seat Belt Petitions
SEAT BELT PETITIONS
Mr Mario Sergio (York West): I have several hundreds of petitions here addressed to the Ontario Legislative Assembly:
"Whereas most school buses and almost all tour buses operating within the province of Ontario are not equipped with seatbelts for the safety of the passengers; and
"Whereas this situation poses a real danger to all said passengers; and
"Whereas, as the result of an accident which occurred on July 29, 2003, on Highway 401 in the vicinity of the Pearson International Airport, just west of the municipality of metropolitan Toronto, one woman died of her injuries and 41 other passengers of a tour bus, all senior citizens, were seriously injured; and
"Whereas we value the lives of all passengers on said vehicles; and
"Whereas the fatality and some of the other injuries to the rest of the passengers might not have occurred if the said vehicle had been equipped with seat belts;
"We, the undersigned, petition the province of Ontario Legislative Assembly to enact legislation requiring it to be mandatory for all school buses, no matter what size, and all tour buses, no matter what size, operating in the province of Ontario to be equipped with safety seat belts."
Speaker, I concur and I will affix my signature to it.
