[1]The bizarre accident that claimed the life of a seven-year old girl in Tambaram has brought to the fore the lack of safety in vehicles used by educational institution.
Most of the schools, especially in rural areas, use worn-out vehicles to carry students and flout rules laid down by the transport department in collusion with department officials and traffic police.
The lackadaisical attitude of school authorities and transport and traffic police authorities has resulted in a child losing her life. Despite the measures taken by the transport authorities, violations continue.
According to the guidelines, drivers operating school buses or vans should have a heavy vehicle licence with a minimum of 10 years’ driving experience. However, the majority of the schools do not adhere to this norm.
The authorities have not been able to rein in erring vehicles, especially auto rickshaws and share autos that continue to load passengers, besides school vans that are in poor condition and are being operated by inexperienced drivers.
This seems to be the root cause of these accidents, traffic experts and civic activists pointed out.
The irony is that thevehicle in which young Shruti was travelling had obtained a fitness certificate from the Tambaram RTO only a few weeks ago. The accident could have been avoided if the authorities had not given the fitness certificate.
The guidelines emphasise that buses and vans should not be loaded with students beyond the stipulated seating capacity, but these vehicles continue to ply with such loads, pointed out S. Ramadoss, a civic activist and the grandfather of a school going toddler.
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