Child get crushed under the school bus in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The recent incident of six-year-old Anjali getting crushed under the wheels of her own school bus has sparked a debate on safety of children in school buses. The child who was standing near her seat fell out of the fast-moving bus when the driver swerved the vehicle to avoid hitting a speed-breaker.

The purpose of a speed-breaker is to slow down the traffic and it is a standard practice for all vehicles to reduce speed ahead of it. 

Driver discipline, especially those driving buses and vans carrying school children, is essential and a primary necessity.

Transport experts also say that such tragedies involving schoolchildren can be reduced if the student-seat ratio is correctly maintained in buses — which means having only as many kids in the bus as there are seats for them. They say as Anjali was standing near her seat when the driver applied the brakes she was thrown off balance and fell off the bus. However, the bigger issue at hand, experts, say is the lack of seat belts in buses. Not to forget that a school bus can’t be lacking a door completely, as in the present case, nor can the door ever be kept open while the bus is moving.

School buses do not have seat belts for kids because the law does not provide for it. The driver though must have the seat belt worn at all times while he is at the wheels. 

Road safety experts say that children are not made to wear seat belts, but they are required to be seated in compartmentalised sections. However, this is negated in school buses where children sit crammed on seats and many are made to stand for want of seats. 

Chief functionary of Indian Road Federation, M. Vinod Kanumula, said, “Children tend to move around a lot in buses, and there is no guarantee that they will use seat belts, which is why there is no mandate for having them. But a lot of campaigns on safe schools are on in the country to ask for a change in laws.

Seat belts have to be a priority. Also, the number of children in a bus seems to be increasing every day. The way a school bus seat is designed doesn’t allow for more than two or three kids to sit on them. The doors of many buses are not shut too, which makes it a risk to life.” Education experts say that the rule to have an attendant in every bus should not be compromised in any circumstance. But it is on countless occasions. 

Swati Reddy of Save Education Society says, “A lot of accidents happen when the driver is reversing the vehicle and does not see the child standing behind a bus. This is where it is necessary to have an attendant to guide and alert the driver. He or she can also be made responsible for ensuring that children are seated properly not standing near the door. Buses must also wait to ensure that every child is picked up from his/her stop safely.”

The rule of having an attendant mandated by the RTA is often ignored by money-minded schools, she said. 

Too few buses, too few rules followed

Due to rising cases of accidents and emergencies in school buses, CBSE had issued a circular in August 2017 stating that mobile phones should be made available in school buses. 

The circular stated that the mobile phones should have internet connection and data storage facilities for schools to be able to reach parents and teachers in case of an emergency.  

The CBSE releases circulars related to school bus safety from time to time to stress on the importance of having a first-aid box, an alarm system etc. But, the mobile phone, with a specially assigned a number, is particularly necessary to keep track on the location of school buses. 

Most schools in the city however flout the rule or don’t enforce it strictly.
Deepthi Divakar, a teacher says, “Most of the attendants in buses have regular phones that can be used only for voice calls, but unless the school takes action or issues a notice, we can’t have constant communication between schools, parents, teachers and the attendant.”

Saranya Krishnan, a parent, says, “Parents rely on school buses because they pick up and drop students on time. Autos, on the other hand, carry hordes of children with their bags and water bottles hanging out, which is a scary sight. Sadly, school buses are also becoming overcrowded and dangerous now.”

Despite the increasing number of children using the school bus facility, the number of school buses in most school remains the same every academic year. And many are badly maintained and not serviced regularly. The bus involved in the death of Anjali was reported to have worn-out tires.