To sensitise school bus drivers and inculcate responsibilty towards road safety and the well being of students they ferry, the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) has decided to train drivers of buses belonging to the School Bus Owners Association (SBOA). Apart from the training sessions, WIAA will also be providing the drivers an insurance cover of `1 lakh per driver as an incentive to attend.
Confirming the development Anil Garg, president of SBOA said that nearly 10,000 drivers will be provided free training in various road safety measures and specialised training in how to behave with the children. “There are complaints by many parents’ groups that say that the drivers are rude and tend to misbehave with children. This training will help them learn some ethics and moral values so that they do not get into trouble,” said Mr Garg.
“The drivers will not only get an insurance cover but will also be paid `250 per head for attending the two-day camp that is being held at the Andheri Road Transport Office (RTO),” said Nitin Dossa, executive chairman, WIAA.
Mr Dossa said that the training would help curb instances of rash driving and also help the drivers get rid of their bad habits. He added that doctors would be present during the training to conduct a free health check up and provide the drivers with a blood group identification card that could be helpful in case of any untoward incident where the driver may require immediate medical help.
“The two day session is currently being held at Andheri but we plan to start another centre at the WIAA office at Churchgate. We are hoping to complete the training of all the drivers by March next year,”
said Mr Dossa. In all WIAA will be spending around `25 lakh towards this initiative.