Overloading of school vans ,Traffic cops summon school principals
Taking a strong exception to overloading by school vans, the Amritsar traffic police authorities on Thursday summoned principals of various city schools for a meeting on Friday to take up the issue with them.
Taking a strong exception to overloading by school vans, the Amritsar traffic police authorities on Thursday summoned principals of various city schools for a meeting on Friday to take up the issue with them.
As the problem also involves auto-rickshaws ferrying schoolchildren, who are notorious for overloading and violation of traffic rules, the traffic cops in a meeting with them a few days ago had given the auto drivers 10 days' to abide by the traffic rules in the interests of school children.
The meeting with school principals has been called in the wake of unsavory incidents involving school vans last month and threat posed to the lives of students commuting by them, and in the wake of the ban imposed by the district administration on the overloading of school vans.
"Being stakeholders in the road safety of schoolchildren commuting by school transport, the school principals have been called for a meeting to discuss the children's safety and share their ideas on how to deal with the issue," said Dhruman Nimbale, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-traffic).
He added that overloading of school vans was one of the most pressing issues nowadays that required to be looked into.
"Besides, there are a host of other issues such as speeding, rash driving, violation of traffic rules, lack of knowledge of traffic rules on the part of the van drivers, employment of untrained drivers and others that would be discussed during the meeting.
The ADCP said even as the district traffic police had taken action against school van drivers in the past, the issue required the intervention of the school principals for effective implementation of the road safety norms.
"At least seven school buses and 42 auto-rickshaws have been challaned in the past few months for violation of safety and traffic norms. The auto-rickshaw drivers ferrying schoolchildren have been given 10 days for the implementation of safety norms failing which action would be taken against them as well," said Nimbale.