Death trap at bus stop

Parents who turned off their son's life support are now campaigning to get motorists to slow down past school buses
Lisa Collins sits on a tree stump next to the highway and watches vehicles speed past as she waits for her son's school bus.
Every day she waits for 6-year-old Max to get off the bus on State Highway 1 near Houhora Heads Rd, 35km north of Kaitaia.
She's noticed some vehicles slow down to pass the stationary bus in the 100km/h section of road - but few abide by the 20km/h law.
It's the same spot where her eldest son, 13-year-old Grant Collins, was hit and fatally injured by a four-wheel-drive only moments after getting off the school bus on April 2.
Grant, a keen soccer player who had dreams of becoming an astronaut, died 25 days later when his parents had to make the agonising decision to turn off the life support machine.
During an inquest into Grant's death, Mrs Collins said since the accident she had noticed some vehicles slowed down when passing the bus _ but most continued at speed along the stretch of road.
She and her husband, police Sergeant Malcolm Collins, said they wanted to see changes to the way school buses operated so that no other parents had to go through losing a child.
Mr Collins suggested traffic be stopped in both directions when children were getting on and off, as was the case in the US and Canada.
Installing flashing lights on the front of school buses and painting them a distinctive colour were other ideas mooted to improve safety.
"We have lost one child a year for the last seven involving school buses and it's not clear how many have been maimed or seriously injured," Mr Collins said.
"The time is now for the Government to look at the legislation to prevent the loss of children."
Bus driver Merv Henderson, with 27 years' experience driving buses, told the hearing he had let Grant off the bus and when he was halfway down the side of the bus he started to indicate.
He did not see Grant get hit by the southbound vehicle and continued on his run, dropping off another 14 students.
"As a high school student I believed he was capable of crossing the road safely," Mr Henderson said.
He said with younger children he would walk them across the road or drive across the road to left them off.
"Ninety-nine per cent of the time traffic comes flying past the school bus. They don't seem to slow down."
Coroner Brandt Shortland found Grant died due to traumatic head injuries sustained when he was hit by a vehicle.
He would release a full report with recommendations at a later date.