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Young World
Safer ways to reach school
JOHN L. PAUL
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Rash driving is causing many accidents.
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Photo:Vipin Chandran
Meeting safety standards: Child passengers need safer means of travel.
The conveniences of vehicles like autorickshaws, Omni vans and jeeps that ferry children to school are many. They pick up kids and drop them back at the doorstep and the drivers ensure that each child has got in. Above all, these vehicles are a boon to parents who need not worry about taking their child to school or to the bus stop. Neither need they worry a
bout children having to cross busy roads. Parents are often willing to pay the operators of pool vehicles more, to avoid these hassles.
Many of these vehicles are private vehicles, which ply illegally as taxis. Alarmed at the rash driving by many drivers, the West Bengal Government issued guidelines for pool cars.
Under this, they would have to apply for permits under the Contract Carriage Act.
They were to ensure proper and comfortable seating arrangements and the presence of an adult attendant in the vehicle. First-aid kits and drinking water too was mandatory.
Careless drivers
In Kerala, neither the Motor Vehicles’ Department nor the Police has been holding them accountable, despite many of these vehicles being rashly-driven and ill-maintained.
There have been instances of rashly-driven pool vehicles (including school buses) meeting with accidents. A few months ago, an Omni van carrying children was involved in a collision at South Janatha, near Vytilla. The children escaped with minor injuries. It was around three months ago that a child peeping out of the window of the school bus was killed. Most pool vehicles ply with children packed tightly like sardines in a can.
Very often, the children (sitting on each others lap) are forced to remain seated in a bent position, hurting their neck and spine. The most dangerous are those auto rickshaws that are permitted to carry three passengers, but zoom around carrying over a dozen children.
While two or three sit on either side of the driver, these autos have the other children sitting in two rows facing the back and another facing the front. In a hurry to collect all the students, most drivers do not even slow down at sharp curves. This makes the children vulnerable to being thrown off the vehicle. The Omnis are driven much faster, with the music system in full blast. It has become quite a lucrative business for drivers to buy very old cars, vans and jeeps for a nominal amount to ferry children to and from school. In most other countries, vehicles carrying children have to maintain all safety standards.
They would also have to be painted yellow (like most school buses in India).
The minimum that they need is a board or sticker which states that children are inside. The statements issued by the Motor Vehicles Department warning against over-loading and rash driving turn out to be a farce most of the time, since no action is taken against the offenders. As per rules, drivers of school buses must have at least 10 years experience.
This rule is not binding on private pool vehicles, autos and taxi cars that ferry children to school. Sadly, many buses of even private schools date back to the eighties. Some school managements have painted the phone number of the school behind school buses, seeking people to inform them about rash driving.
But most people do not bother about this.
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