THE MOTHER OF 11-year-old Caitlin-Rose McMullan, who died last week after being struck by a car as she exited her school bus in Co Derry, has called for the implementation of bus safety measures to ensure the protection of children.

Caitlin-Rose was a first year student at St Pius X College in Magherafelt, Co Derry. On 6 March, she was dropped off across the road by her usual bus. The busy road, her mother said, has a speed limit of 60/mph.

There is no dedicated bus shelter nor footpath on the side of the road, and Caitlin-Rose got off onto a “mucky verge”. 

Her school described her as a “very popular pupil who was always smiling” and an “outgoing, bubbly and caring child”.

Speaking to The Journal, Caitlin-Rose’s mother Stella said that she is trying to raise awareness of the lack of safety guidelines in place for buses, particularly school buses. 

She has started a petition on Change.org, which states it is calling for “the implementation of effective measures such as bus shelters, better bus codes similar to those found in countries where cars must stop by law to let children cross, and a significant increase in speed awareness around stopped buses.

“The benefits of these changes are clear. By giving children a safe place to wait for the bus, providing clearer regulations for drivers, and reinforcing the need for drivers to slow down and stay alert near buses, we can help prevent tragic accidents like the one that took my daughter from me. It is time we prioritise the safety and lives of our children.”

Stella said that she was inspired to start the petition following her daughter’s funeral. “I thought now is the time – there’s no point in waiting in a month or two months, or waiting for some other child to die before I start a campaign,” she told The Journal.

She pointed to bus safety measures in use in the US, such as red and amber lights on school buses that mean it is illegal to attempt to overtake the bus while it is unloading passengers. 

“I’m looking at all these countries that have the law. We have nothing. A bus can basically stop at any part of any road and drop your child off, and drive off and leave your child there – we have nothing in place.

“When you’re sitting at the receiving end of it, you know, I’m sitting here going like, I left my child to school, thinking she was safe. So many people have contacted me to say their kids had never come home from school, and the same thing has happened to them.

“My daughter’s not going to come back now, but if I can try and save other children, that this is not going to happen to, you know, something to come out of it,” Stella said.

The petition is available here.