A tragic and preventable incident occurred recently an 8-year-old autistic child  escaped unsupervised from his school transportation van.
The driver was unaware the child had left the van for several minutes, leading to the heartbreaking outcome of the child drowning in someone’s backyard pool. Ritchie’s Transport, contracted by the Ministry to provide transportation for children with additional needs, is currently under investigation. 

We have now have three other incidents in the last few weeks. 

-An 11 year old autistic boy was left in his school van for FOUR hours. 
The parents wishing to not be named in the news article mentioned there son attends Wilson school. He was picked up at 8.02am via his transportation to be dropped off that morning however they were informed by the school at 11.01am that their son was absent.  They immediately contacted the school and were informed they couldn’t locate his whereabouts. They were later told at 12.52 that he was still in the school  transportation van.  The driver dropped off two other students too different schools, then the driver returned to his home. Two hours later someone calls him. He checks on his van and finds the boy inside his van. No explanation from the driver, also from Ritchie’s transportation 

-A 17 year old autistic student was locked inside her transportation van for two hours outside the drivers house, instead of being dropped off at her work experience location. The parents were notified from 11am by the school to notify them that their daughter had not turned up to her off campus placement. “He told me he had dropped her off. I thought the worst. I felt like I was loosing my mind” (parent)

“He then gasped and went: ‘I’m so sorry she’s in the car’. (Driver)

”I was just in shock. I was worried, scared and asked. ‘What’s happened, how could you forget’ (parent)

”He was very sincere he apologised a lot and asked if I was going to tell his company.. I said ‘yes of course I will’.  

This experience has left her daughter with severe anxiety, distress and a complete loss of security. 
This driver was from cross country rentals.

-The third incident a Driver calling the school seeking directions, with “highly distressed” students heard in the background of the call. He was lost unknown to his surroundings or where the schools location was in Te Atatu south with 7 students on board, at 9.30am after two hours of the students on board the driver was still nowhere to be seen, 

These devastating events should never have happened and could have been avoided with proper safety measures in place. All children, especially children with additional needs, require attentive supervision to ensure their safety and well-being. This is why we are calling for the government to mandate the presence of at least two adults in every school van transporting children.

Having two adults on board, a driver and an aide, would provide the necessary supervision and attention to each child, minimizing the risk of such devastating events. This proposal is not only feasible, but crucial for safeguarding our children and providing peace of mind to their families.
Ensuring that our children are safe during transit must be a priority, and by adopting this measure, we can lead by example and create a safer environment for all.

We urge the Ministry of Education and transportation authorities to act swiftly and implement this safety requirement as a matter of urgency. Children’s lives depend on it, and no family should endure such heartache due to preventable oversight.

Please support this petition to demand action for better safety measures in school transportation for all children. Sign to make a difference.