After a long summer vacation, school children are excited to meet their friends, teachers and share their adventures in the holidays. But, the very first day at the school ended with horrifying tale of bus driver’s negligent driving which led to two kindergarten students of Mount Carmel School, Sector 47 badly injured.
The bus driver, Sukhvinder Singh, was driving way above the CBSE prescribed speed limit of 40kmph and Hallo Majra chowk rammed into a stationary truck. The driver could not apply brakes on time. The bus was on its way to drop 32 students to Zirakpur. The truck was parked roadside as it had stopped to assist another truck that had broken down.
The two students injured are Sathvik Sharma and Arjun Singh Brar. Sathvik had suffered a deep cut under one of his eyes and he has to go undergo surgery.
According to reports, there was no woman attendant in the bus and students were not even given any first-aid.
The Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson has said that the case will be looked into and will be accordingly if any negligence is found.
PAST ACCIDENTS INVOLVING SCHOOL BUSES
January 2017: Chitkara International School (Sector 25) bus overturned near Gurdwara Santsar Sahib in Sector 38.
SCHOOL BUS GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOL VEHICLES BY PUNJAB, HARYANA, UT CHANDIGARH & CBSE
- Mandatory presence of woman attendant in the bus.
- School Bus should be written on the back and front of every bus transporting school
children. - If it is a leased bus, “ON SCHOOL DUTY” should be made visible on the school bus.
- No school bus should carry children exceeding its permitted seating capacity.
- A first-aid-box and a fire extinguisher should be there inside every school bus.
- Every school bus windows should have horizontal grills and doors should be fitted with
reliable lock. - School bus should have its name and telephone number.
- School bus drivers must possess a minimum experience of five years in driving heavy
vehicles. - Apart from drivers, there must be another relevant authority in every school bus as per the
Rule 17 of Motor Vehicle Rules. - There should be space provided under the seats for keeping school bags safely.
- A teacher or any school authority should accompany from the school in the bus to ensure
safety norms. - Vehicle such as bus, van, or any other transport should be allowed to carry school children
if there is a proper permit. - All the school buses shall be road worthy, carry annual fitness certificate and insurance
certificate. - All school bus conductors and drivers shall wear proper uniform and name; and have
license number of the said driver and conductor. - The bus driver shall have a proper and valid license at the time of
employment/engagement. - Every school buses should possess a valid pollution under control certificate.
- The school buses are not allowed to exceed the speed of maximum 50 KMPH anywhere in
the city. - Every school buses shall carry a board displaying the name of the school, route and
timings on the front of the bus. - There should be proper control for managing the traffic in and around the school in every
educational institutions. - There must be a record showing name, home address along with telephone number of
school bus driver - School bus should be regularly inspected by school authority.
- Every school bus drivers should have at least 5 years of driving experience.
- The bus driver should not have been charged for more than three times in traffic violations
- All School buses should have a conductor or an attendant. And the attendant should
receive proper training to handle the young children. - All schools should have proper parking area.
- The conductors and drivers of the school buses shall attend a refresher course at least
once in two years which is arranged by the Transport Department. - School bus drivers should be subjected to fitness tests.
In addition to these, UT Chandigarh specifies:
- All school buses must be painted with yellow colour.
SCHOOL BUS GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOL VEHICLES BY CBSE (Circular Feb 23, 2017)
In addition to those already mentioned above, CBSE prescribes:
- School buses must be fitted with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40kmph.
- The seats of the school bus must be made of non-combustible material.
- Mandatory CCTV camera and GPS in every bus and must be in working condition.
- The bus must have drinking water and first-aid box
- The bus must be fitted with file alarm and siren
- The windows should have no curtains or glass films.
The parents are equally responsible to ensure that all the schools adhere to these rules.
Source: Hindustan Times, CBSE and Track School Bus
Image Credits: Google Images