BATHURST, N.B. — The parents of seven boys killed in a terrible highway accident in northern New Brunswick say there's nothing that can lessen their grief, but the announcement of a coroner's inquest may help other families avoid a similar loss.

Greg Forestell, the province's acting chief coroner, announced Thursday that he has ordered an inquest into the Jan. 12 crash that killed seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team and the wife of their coach.

He met with the parents of the boys at a Bathurst hotel to give them his decision.

"I know that he made the right decision," said Isabelle Hains as she left the meeting. "It's for the safety of the children."

Hains's son Daniel was one of the boys killed in the accident.

"I don't think I'll ever get over the grieving process, but if there are changes now that could prevent this from ever happening again, this is what I would want," she said.

The RCMP and Transport Canada recently released reports into the crash near Bathurst, which occurred when the van crossed the centre line on an icy highway and collided with an oncoming transport truck.

Hains and Ana Acevedo launched a website and gathered 500 names on a petition, pushing for an inquest in hopes of finding ways to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Acevedo, whose son Javier died in the accident, said the announcement of the inquest has taken a load off her shoulders.

"For me, the most important thing is to keep the children safe," she said. "Although mine had to pay for it, at least I can see that other children will be safe."

The parents are also calling for legislation that would prevent students from travelling during bad weather for a school-related event outside their community, and a law regarding who is eligible to drive students to out-of-town events.

Five of the boys who died -- Nathan Cleland, Justin Cormier, Codey Branch, Hains and Acevedo -- were 17 years old. The other two students were Nick Quinn, 16, and Nicholas Kelly, 15.

Coach and teacher Wayne Lord, who was driving the van, his daughter and two other team members survived the crash.

Forestell said the Lord family was informed of his decision Thursday, although no members of the family attended his meeting with the parents.

The inquest will not assign blame, but a coroner's jury can make recommendations for new rules and regulations.

"An inquest will pull all that information, all those facts together in a comprehensive and cohesive manner and allow a coroner's jury to review those facts and come up with recommendations on how to prevent deaths in similar circumstances," Forestell said.

He said the petition and the public interest in the case helped make his decision in favour of an inquest.

Earlier this year, an RCMP report said the van would not have passed a safety inspection at the time of the accident. The department's report also found the van had worn tires, broken brakes and a rusting body.

The Transport Canada report said driver fatigue played a role in the tragedy as well.

It said the driver, who the report did not name but RCMP identified as Lord, was approaching 16 hours of on-duty activity when the accident occurred, and that the last three hours of the trip took place as driving conditions deteriorated because of the weather.

The crash prompted the province to introduce new guidelines for transporting students to extracurricular activities.

The guidelines include using buses to transport groups of 10 students or more and requiring winter tires on vehicles for transporting students from October to April. Vehicle inspections and service reports must also be sent to the provincial government.

Some of the parents say they want to know who will own and be responsible for the new larger vehicles and they believe an inquest is the only way to get those kinds of answers.

Chris Quinn, whose son Nick was among the crash victims, said he trusts an inquest to make the right recommendations, but hoped a five-member jury that will be appointed to hear evidence goes beyond just travel for school events.

"You know it's not just the school sports where the children are on the road ... and they're on the road every weekend," he said. "There's always going to be risk involved, but hopefully we can reduce that risk."

Forestell said the inquest will be held in Bathurst in April or May.