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Canada  

Scrutiny on bus safety

The federal government faces questions today about its plan to increase safety on commercial buses following last week's deadly crash in Ottawa that killed three people and injured nearly two dozen more.

The fresh scrutiny comes after Transportation Safety Board chair Kathy Fox took aim Monday at what she saw as the government's failure to act on earlier recommendations to increase "crashworthiness" rules for buses.

Those recommendations sprang from the TSB's investigation into another Ottawa bus crash in 2013, in which a city bus broke through a warning gate at a rail crossing and hit a moving passenger train, killing six people on the bus.

Fox said Transport Canada had done some work on the recommendations but that "significant progress has not yet occurred and the safety deficiencies remain outstanding."

She added that Friday's crash in Ottawa as well as last year's collision involving the Humboldt junior hockey team all underscore the need for Transport Canada to take action on implementing crashworthiness standards for buses.

Ottawa police are continuing to investigate the cause of Friday's crash, which saw a double-decker bus slam into a shelter at a station west of downtown Ottawa.



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