Bathurst mothers demand tougher travel policies

Two mothers who lost their sons in a horrific highway crash last winter led a small demonstration at Bathurst High School on Tuesday to demand stricter safety measures for student transportation.

Isabelle Hains and Anna Acevedo, whose sons were among seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team killed in January when the van they were slammed into a tractor-trailer on Highway 8 after a night game in Moncton, planned to demonstrate for most of the day.

"I just want changes to be made, and I want them to be enforced. I want the policies and guidelines to be legislation — a law and an act," Hains said, a photo of her son pinned to her jacket as she spoke out for the first time since his death.

"The policy 701 says ensure the adult in the public education system understands the magnitude of the responsibility inferred upon them when parents and communities entrust their children in the public education system."

Acevedo, mother of Javier Acevedo, wore a white placard around her neck that read, "Recommendations Don't Make Changes."

Acevedo and Hains were supported by four others at the demonstration.

In July, the RCMP released a report that the van used by the basketball team would have failed a safety inspection. It also said a failure to buckle up and icy roads were key factors in the crash.

The wife of the basketball team coach was also killed in the crash. Four people inside the  15-seat 1997 Ford Econoline F350 Club Wagon survived the crash.