Yannick Goupil said a bus driver’s “worst nightmare” came true when a 13-year-old boy was killed by a car moments after stepping off the school bus.
Nathan Macameau died days after he was hit just steps from his home in the town of Amos, Que., last month. Founding the group Projet Nathan in his honour, his family is pushing for a change to school bus policies.
“This is really a nightmare,” said Goupil, chief technology and marketing officer at Autobus Maheux, which transported Macameau to and from school.
“It was a big shock for every bus driver.”
Just two weeks after his funeral, the bus service is launching an awareness campaign selling black and yellow ribbons — the colours of a school bus and the painted median on a road — in an attempt to prevent similar accidents.
“It’s still difficult when we talk about it,” said Goupil. “Our best dream is to make sure that Nathan didn’t die for nothing.”
Bus drivers witness speeding, indifference
Although motorists are obligated to stop for a bus with flashing lights or receive a fine between $200 and $300, plus nine demerit points, Goupil says bus drivers witness people bending the rules daily.
“When some drivers see the yellow intermittent lights, they just push on the gas to pass faster to make sure that they won’t have to wait a few seconds,” said Goupil.
“Every day there are drivers that come back from work and they say, ‘you know what, on this road and at this place there’s another car just passed through my red lights.'”
Filming a video as part of the campaign which features several Maheux bus drivers, Goupil says the company’s hope is to wake people up to the consequences of distracted driving.
“It’s so easy to avoid these kinds of situations,” said Goupil.
“Just make sure to keep the focus on. It’s not the time to text, not the time to talk on the phone. It’s the time to focus on what you’re doing.”
‘Nathan’s name could touch everyone’
When Nathan’s dad, Dominique Macameau-Paquette, went to the funeral home to place his son’s ashes in the columbarium, he says he noticed staff wearing the black and yellow ribbons.
“It touched me. I started crying when I saw it,” said Macameau-Paquette.
“Nathan’s name could touch everyone to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Rose-Marie Paradis, Nathan’s aunt, says her family was consulted before the school bus company launched its campaign. She welcomes the initiative, particularly since she’s heard directly from concerned bus drivers herself.
“They told me that it’s crazy even some big trucks are passing,” said Paradis.
“They have such hard work because people are not respecting the road and the school buses.”
While they continue to deal with the grief of losing the teenager, Paradis says the family is focused on policy and guaranteeing no other families experience such loss.