” regular safety campaigns including ongoing Road safety week and penalties have failed to deter errant drivers of school vans and buses as sector remains unregulated ‘ he said.
“the concerned authorities including police, school , transport and parents are equally to be blamed as they ignore all safety norms of school transport including fire fighting system, seat belts for children , air bags etc ” he added
” India accounts for 10 % of global road deaths highest in the world and most of them are children and young who die in road accidents” he added
Direction of the Supreme Court of India for School Bus
“School Bus” must be written on the back and front of the Bus.
If it is a hired bus, “On School Duty” should be clearly indicated
Bus must have a First-Aid-Box.
The windows of Bus must be fitted with horizontal grills.
There must be a Fire Extinguisher in the Bus.
School Name and Telephone No. must be written on the Bus.
The doors of the Bus should be fitted with reliable locks.
To keep School Bags safely, there should be a space-fitted under the seats.
There must be an Attendant from the School in the Bus. School cabs should be fit with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 kph.
The body of school cab shall be highway yellow colour with a horizontal strip in green colour of 150mm width in the middle all around the vehicle and the words ‘SCHOOL CAB’ must be prominently displayed on all four sides of the vehicle.
If age of school children is below 12 years, the number of children carried shall not exceed 1½ times the permitted seating capacity. Children above 12 years shall be treated as one person.
The driver of a school cab must have valid licence to drive LMV-Transport Vehicles for a period of at least four years and compulsorily wear a light blue shirt, light blue trousers and black shoes. His name ID be displayed on the shirt.
There must be enough space provided to keep school bags inside the vehicle and the bags should not be hung outside the vehicle or placed on roof carriers.
The bus driver must carry a complete list of the children being ferried in the school cab, indicating the name, class, residential address, blood group and the points of stoppage, route plan, etc.
In case of kindergarten, if an authorized person recognised mutually by the school and parents, does not come to pick the child from the halting points and such, the child shall be taken back to the school and their parents should be called.
