Transportation decisions should not restrict athletes, say parents of Bathurst victim
The parents of one of the people who died in a highway accident in Bathurst, N.B., say they hope the tragedy doesn't result in restricting opportunities for athletes in the province.
Chris and Krista Quinn lost their son Nickolas, 16, a month ago in what they call a "freak accident" that no one could have predicted.
Nickolas, six other members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the coach's wife, Elizabeth Lord, were killed on Jan. 12 when the 15-seat van they were traveling in struck a tractor-trailer while returning from a game in Moncton.
Highway 8 in the northern part of the province was covered with snow and ice at the time and the van didn't have snow tires.
The accident happened just 500 metres from the highway exit for the northern New Brunswick city of 13,000.
"There's a thousand millions of what-ifs," Chris Quinn told CBC News Wednesday. "In the last month I've been through most of them and I'm still finding new ones."
Anna Acevedo, whose son Javier, 17, died in the accident, said the van should have had winter tires.
"That's irresponsible thinking — taking the van with no winter tires," Acevedo said. "We should all have winter tires."
The Education department should take a careful look at the vehicles schools use to transport children, said Bathurst resident Brenda Murty-Comeau. "They should be responsible in seeing that the vans that carry children are properly equipped," she said.
Since the accident, the provincial government has suspended the use of the 15-seat vans to transport students for the rest of the academic year. It has also asked that schools discontinue the use of the vehicles for extracurricular activities.
The Department of Education is reviewing its transportation guidelines and will make recommendations on how to minimize the risk of travel.
A bus with a professional driver should be included in the new policy, said Tony O'Hearn, another Bathurst resident.
But some school officials have been critical of the cost of such a change.
"Maybe it is no longer feasible, maybe we no longer need to duplicate what communities are doing extremely well in some sports," Doug Prescott, president of the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association and principal of Riverview High School in Riverview, told CBC News previously. "Possibly, we can reduce the number of sports that we're running."
Quinn said his family hopes that any changes don't cause school trips to become over-regulated.
He added none of the people who died would want their death to "have something to do to prevent another child from enjoying a game or a sport."
The RCMP and Transport Canada are still investigating the accident.