Graduation season is here and B.C.’s transportation minister has a warning for anyone who might be celebrating on a party bus.
Todd Stone is reminding grads and their parents about smart transportation choices and B.C’s new regulations concerning limos and party buses.
READ MORE: New limousine, party bus regulations to make operators ‘more accountable’: ministry
They now require a special authorization licence plate be displayed. They’re also forbidden from serving alcohol.
Stone says applications from 71 operators have been approved for the new licence.
He says operators that break the rules will be penalized, as will the passengers inside their vehicles.
“We made the deadline for operators to get their new licence by May 1, because we wanted the changes to be in place for this year’s grad season,” says Stone.
Sixteen-year-old Shannon Raymond died in 2008 after drinking and taking drugs on a party bus and her mother says the new regulations don’t go far enough.
Julie Raymond says party buses should be required to hire mandatory, independent third-party chaperons, who would make sure there’s no alcohol or drugs on the buses.
“It is a good step in the right direction, but we would like to see the legislation go a step further,” says Raymond.
“As a mother of a daughter, I had open discussions with my daughter. She was not an at-risk child. She consumed alcohol and drugs aboard a party bus. If my daughter did it, anybody can do it. I am here to tell you, educating and being a good parent does not work.”
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