The mother of a 15-year-old girl who was killed in a north-east road accident moments after she stepped off a school bus pledged yesterday to continue a safety campaign.
At the end of a two-day inquiry at Banff Sheriff Court into her daughter’s death, Carla Oldham, 40, of Birkenhills Farmhouse, Turriff, said she was relieved the investigation was over.
She said she hoped Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood, who heard evidence into the death of her daughter Robyn, would comment on safety issues in his findings.
She said: “I hope he will make some recommendations about school bus safety measures to stop this happening again.
“He could suggest the American idea of no overtaking school buses or a speed limit of 20mph for overtaking buses.
“I will continue to fight for school bus safety for other children up and down the country.”
Mrs Oldham, who said she was mentally and physically drained, said she was pleased with the thoroughness of the inquiry.
At one point, she became upset and left the inquiry briefly after the sheriff asked a witness if parents had a responsibility to teach their children how to get off school buses safely.
Sheriff Fleetwood said he did not want to give an “impromptu” decision on the inquiry and would issue his findings later.
The inquiry was into the death of Turriff Academy pupil Robyn Oldham who was struck by a car on September 4, 2008, on the A947 Banff-Aberdeen road near her Birkenhills home.
Moments earlier, she had stepped off a school bus and was crossing the main road when the accident happened.
A post-mortem examination concluded that she died from head injuries.
Evidence about school bus safety measures was given by Aberdeenshire Council’s transportation boss Ewen Wallace, 42.
He was asked by fiscal Sandy Hutchison about a pilot scheme currently underway to test different types of signs for vehicles involved in pupil transport.
Mr Wallace said: “There was concern about the effectiveness of current signs and we took the approach to come up with something that has higher visibility for other drivers.”
Mr Wallace told the inquiry that a no-overtaking law could result in queues of traffic and the potential for other road accidents.
The inquiry also heard from bus safety activist Ron Beaty, 66, of Craigen Terrace, Gardenstown, who has been campaigning with the Oldham family.
He told the inquiry about his suggestion that other traffic should not overtake school buses.
He said: “The problem with children is they are not mini-adults and don’t think or act like adults.
“Children have problems assimilating when it is safe to cross a road.”
He told the inquiry that between 1981 and 2006, 21,826 children in Britain were either killed, seriously injured or injured while involved in school bus transport.