School buses infringe safety measures!!

The tragic incident of Masaipet School Bus accident that occurred on Thursday morning posed many questions regarding the safety measures being adopted by the school buses.

Appended below are the salient points as well as the guidelines imposed on the safety of the school buses by the Supreme Court in as early as 1996.

• All school buses are to be duly painted in yellow color.
• In the front as well as on the back side of the school bus it should be clearly written “School Bus”. If it is hired bus, the endorsement should be “On School Duty”.
• A First-Aid box should be mandatory to keep inside the school bus.
• The speed regulatory system should have been enforced in the school bus.
• The windows of the school buses should be shielded with grills.
• The Fire Fighting appliances should be adequately maintained in the school buses.
• The name of the school to which the bus belongs to and the telephone numbers of the school are a must to be endorsed on the school buses.
• Bus door should always be kept locked.
• Sufficient space should be provided below the seats to keep the school bags.
• An attendant is to be nominated for each school bus.
• Either a parent of the students or a teacher should travel along with the children.
• The driver should have a driving experience on HMV for at least 5 yrs.
• The drivers with a past record of red light jumping and code violations should not be appointed for school bus drivers.
• Also, the drivers who were penalized for more than once for over speeding or otherwise should not be appointed for school bus driving duty.
• Last but not least is - school bus should have a valid permit in accordance with the Section 2 (47) of the Motor Vehicle Act.