Submitted photo -  Skilled Truckers Canada

The Swan Valley community was at the centre of a major provincial news event last Tuesday (Jan. 13), when a Sapotaweyak Education Authority school bus carrying 14 teenage students rolled over on Hwy. No. 10 on the way to the SVRSS in the morning, about 13 km south of Mafeking. Swan River RCMP received the report at 8:35 a.m. and responded alongside the Birch River Fire Department and Shared Health EMS.
The RCMP believe the rollover occurred when the driver of the school bus – travelling south on the highway – attempted to pass another bus and lost control. The bus went off the highway, rolled and then came to a stop when it was right-side up. Road conditions were believed to be slippery at the time of the incident.
Fifteen people, including the driver, were transported to hospital in Swan River for assessment and treatment of their injuries. Four patients – three youth and one adult – were then transported by air to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg for further care.
A Manitoba RCMP forensic reconstructionist was deployed to the scene to continue the investigation.
CBC Manitoba reported later in the week that the three students that were airlifted to Winnipeg were released from hospital after a couple of days.
Among the other students taken to Swan Valley Health Centre, one mother reported that her daughter suffered two broken vertebrae during the crash, but is expected to recover within three weeks.
Seatbelts on buses
The accident has reignited a conversation about whether seatbelts should be mandatory on school buses. Last month, Progressive Conservative MLA Wayne Ewasko from Lac du Bonnet tabled a private member’s bill aimed to enhance school bus safety by mandating seatbelts for new builds.
Following the incident in the Swan Valley, when asked about the possibility of seatbelts on school buses, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew spoke to CBC Manitoba, saying “I’m open to the conversation, but we have to be patient in identifying what took place in this instance before we rush to propose the right solution. What was the cause of this accident? What was the nature of the injuries? What would be the safety measure that would come out of it? I’m open to hearing it, but we don’t have that information yet.”