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An 11-year-old girl lost her life after being struck by a vehicle while exiting her school bus, prompting urgent calls for changes to bus safety laws in Northern Ireland. Caitlin-Rose McMullan’s tragic death occurred in March 2025 in Castledawson, County Londonderry. Her mother, Stella McGinn, expressed deep frustration that a year after the incident, no firm legislative action had been taken to improve the safety of children traveling to and from school. “There is no time to waste,” she said, highlighting the pain experienced by many families due to current safety shortcomings.
At present, Northern Ireland lacks a legal requirement for drivers to stop when a school bus is picking up or dropping off children, a situation that has drawn increasing criticism. Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has indicated that legislation aimed at prohibiting overtaking of school buses at stops is being prepared. Speaking to the BBC, Kimmins acknowledged public concerns about the pace of progress but emphasized the need to approach the issue carefully, noting, “As a parent myself, it’s something I’m always thinking about in everything I do… we have a responsibility to get this issue of school buses right.”
The personal impact of Caitlin-Rose’s death remains profound for her family. Stella McGinn remembers her daughter as a lively child with dreams and plans, whose life was abruptly cut short. She described how Caitlin-Rose was “blindsided” by traffic when she walked between two buses. “Life will never be the same,” McGinn said, sharing how she visits the accident site daily, where tributes to her daughter have been placed. The grief fueled her determination to push for legal reforms to help ensure no other family suffers a similar loss.
Medical professionals familiar with such incidents underline the scale of the problem. Dr Damien Gates, a consultant at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children who was on duty when Caitlin-Rose was admitted, spoke about how frequent these tragic events are. He shared his sorrow, saying, “When I got the call… I just thought – ‘not again’… It’s an immense sense of sadness that we couldn’t do anything to help Caitlin as her injuries were so profound.” Statistics reveal that road injuries involving children during school term time are not rare, with nearly 700 road deaths among young people aged 4 to 18 in Northern Ireland since 2020. Yet, the full extent of the issue is likely underreported, as Dr. Gates explained that many less severe cases do not make it into intensive care records
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