The January 2008 Bathurst van crash

BATHURST, N.B. - The mothers of two schoolboys killed in the Bathurst van crash are asking education officials to change a winter tire policy.

Seven members of the Bathurst High School boys basketball team, along with their coach's wife, were killed when their school van collided with a transport truck during a snowstorm in January 2008.

A subsequent coroner's inquest called for winter tires on all vehicles taking children to extra-curricular activities.

But the two mothers, Isabelle Hains and Marcella Kelly, say that as of three weeks ago, the 21-passenger vehicle used by Bathurst High only had winter tires on the back.

The women say a tire expert at Transport Canada agrees that the vehicle should have winter tires on the front and the back.

The women say when they brought the matter to the attention of school District 15, they were told the tires were in accordance with departmental policy.