New rules to improve school bus safety
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Buses carrying primary students will need to meet a set of new compulsory regulations when the first national standard for school bus safety comes into effect on Thursday.
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Some of the 59 children who were crammed into an 11-seater minivan that was recently pulled over by traffic police in Nanyang, Henan province. The children, all primary and kindergarten pupils, were accompanied by a teacher. Police say overcrowding and poor conditions on school buses across the country are risking lives. |
Each vehicle must have at least two emergency exits and data recorders that record all driving information, like speed, time and mileage, the rules read. All the seats must be unfolded single seats with seatbelts, and the windows should be completely sealed or at least with the lower parts sealed.
Co-promulgated by the Standardization Administration of China and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the rules mean single and double-decker buses and minibuses cannot be used for school runs unless registered.
"When the safety of school buses is guaranteed, parents will no longer have to wait outside school gates," said Yuan Guilin, a professor at Beijing Normal University. "It will also help improve traffic jams around primary and middle schools (because fewer parents will drive there)."
The high cost of the new school bus, though, could be a serious barrier to schools catering to children of migrant workers.
"Schools and parents all welcome the release of the new standard, but for schools like ours, the costs and maintenance fees involved are beyond our reach at present," said Ren Haiying, president of Beijing Haiding Xingzhi Experimental School.
Chen Wei, a Beijing father, said the new measures will better guarantee the safety of his child and ease the pressure of his daily routine.
"My son studies at Zhongguancun No 3 Primary School and I am in charge of sending him and picking him up from school every day," he said. "We meet traffic jams every day during rush hour and it's a real headache."
However, some parents are worried that the standard may result in schools greatly increasing bus fees.
"The biggest problem of China's school bus industry is not the lack of a standard but the rampant use of illegal vehicles," said Zhang Jie, manager of Beijing Wanjiabang Vehicle Rentals. "If the problem exists, no matter how good the standard is, the qualified school bus is at a disadvantage in the market (as illegal buses are cheaper and more flexible)."
Yuan, who has studied school bus safety for five years, said: "School buses carry much responsibility and hope, so they need strict supervision.
"The release of the new standard is nice but I hope the related (government) departments enhance the management and supervision and do not see the standard as just a piece of paper or let the data recorders just be expensive decorations," he said.
