PRINCE.EDWARD.ISLAND (CBC) - P.E.I.'s transportation minister was surprised to learn Wednesday that school buses pressed into early service last week are equipped with booster seats.

The buses, delivered early this month, weren't due to go on the road until the fall, but were launched when the government was forced to take dozens of buses off the road because of severe corrosion.

Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley got his first look at the buses Wednesday and was surprised to find booster seats for young children built into the first two rows, enough for eight children.

Now the government has to decide whether Island children will be required to use them. MacKinley thinks the current seatbelt law may require it.

"Under Section 92, I believe if you read that section of the Highway [Traffic Act], yes," he said.

"The only way you could do it is you'd have to exempt, but I couldn't see government doing that. That's the law. We brought that in."

The new booster seat law, which came into effect in January, requires Island children between the ages of four and nine to use a booster seat, with only a few exceptions.

MacKinley also wondered if eight booster seats per bus would be enough to accommodate all P.E.I. students under nine. That age would include about half of students attending elementary schools.

Speaking on the moment, MacKinley said personally he felt what booster seats are there should be used.

"I can't say they should be or not, that's just a personal opinion, but the seatbelts are there for a reason," he said.

MacKinley said he will rely on experts at the highway safety division to come up with recommendations on exactly what to do with the new booster seats and to decide if booster seats should be put on older buses.

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