BACK TO SCHOOL SAFETY MESSAGE

With thousands of school children returning to school today the Transport Workers' Union is issuing an important safety message.

The TWU is calling on school children, bus drivers and the general public to be careful around school buses.

TWU Branch Secretary Hughie Williams said, "We don't want to see a repeat of last year where children, bus drivers and the general public were killed or seriously hurt in bus accidents."

Mr Williams said, "It is important that school children and the general public wait until buses leave before they cross the road. Buses act as a blind spot to both passengers and oncoming vehicles."

The TWU is also calling on bus drivers to report and refuse to drive unroadworthy school buses on our roads.

Mr Williams said, "We cannot afford to have unsafe buses on our roads transporting our most precious cargo our children."

Mr Williams said, "Bus drivers need to understand that they will be the ones who will go to jail, not their rogue bosses, if an accident does occur in an unroadworthy bus."

Bus drivers should report unroadworthy school buses to the TWU, Queensland Transport and Queensland Police."

"Let's keep our roads safe"