CUDDALORE : School buses in the district have been asked to carry first aid kits, fire fighting equipment and ensure that boards indicating `school bus' are displayed in the front and rear of the vehicles.

The name of the school and the telephone numbers should be written prominently on the buses. All the vehicles should have doors with proper locking facility.

This district administration directive follows the recent road accident, which claimed the lives of seven schoolchildren at Varakkalpattu, near here. Installation of audio systems inside the vehicles should also be avoided.

These guidelines were framed at a meeting convened by Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi recently.

There should be a separate provision for keeping bags and lunchboxes. Only drivers who have no less than 10 years of driving experience should be employed and their age should not exceed 30 years.

To assist the driver, a qualified person should accompany him. Usage of cellphones while driving is banned.

Once in six months, a fitness certificate for the vehicle should be obtained from the transport office.

Passenger capacity

As far as possible engaging hired vehicles for transporting children should be avoided, and, in such cases, the vehicles should carry the wordings `On school duty.'

No vehicles, including autorickshaws, would be allowed to carry more than the permitted number of passengers. The drivers should only stop the buses at scheduled stops, and they should not make students run after the vehicles.

Tractor-trailers should carry only the permitted load of sugarcane. Overloading canlead to the vehicle overturning thereby posing danger to road-users.

Three students died at Villupuram recently, when sugarcane stalks loosened from a vehicle and fell on them.

Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar, Chief Educational Officer M.C.Balamani, District Educational Officer Rajamanickam, Regional Transport Officer Sampathkumar, headmasters, representatives of bus, lorry and van operators' associations and the State Transport Corporation participated.

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