Safety drive: Traffic cops fine 20 school bus drivers in Gurugram

The Gurugram traffic police on Wednesday morning conducted a surprise inspection of school buses across the city, and issued fines to at least 20 drivers for allegedly driving without a licence, requisitioning of vehicle registration papers, and not wearing uniforms, among other such violations, said officials

The Gurugram traffic police on Wednesday morning conducted a surprise inspection of school buses across the city, and issued fines to at least 20 drivers for allegedly driving without a licence, requisitioning of vehicle registration papers, and not wearing uniforms, among other such violations, said officials.

Most of the bus drivers were fined along stretches such as the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, MG Road, Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, and Golf Course Extension Road between 6.30am and 8.30am, said officials. (Representative Photo)

Most of the bus drivers were fined along stretches such as the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, MG Road, Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, and Golf Course Extension Road between 6.30am and 8.30am, said officials.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Virender Singh Sangwan said such enforcement drives will be conducted randomly throughout this month. Sixty school bus drivers were fined for violating several traffic rules, Sangwan said, adding, “There have been several accidents involving school buses this year. To ensure the safety of students, teachers, among other staff, the traffic police will conduct such drives and fine school bus owners and drivers randomly throughout this month, if they fail to adhere to the norms under the Motor Vehicle Act. Teams have been constituted for the task,” said Sangwan.

In April this year, a four-year-old boy came under the tyres of a school bus. A month later, a school bus driver, with students and teachers inside the vehicle, died after the speeding vehicle hit a stationary tractor on Sohna Road, said officials.

So, deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav directed the traffic police in March to start conducting surprise inspections of school buses across the city, after the reopening of schools in larger numbers following the Covid-19 scare.

During a district road safety committee (DRSC) meeting held on August 27 this year, Yadav also directed all the sub-divisional officers (SDOs) to cancel registration of school buses whose drivers or owners are repeatedly found to be violating the traffic norms.

“The district administration is in the process of writing to different schools in the district to adhere to the traffic norms as listed under the ‘Safe School Vehicle’ policy. The Gurugram traffic police and SDMs have been directed to continuously monitor school vehicles, and give a report on action taken to the administration on a monthly basis,” according to Yadav.

Besides adhering to the traffic norms, and drivers having necessary paperwork, the ‘Safe School Vehicle’ policy also mandates schools to ensure their drivers and conductors wear uniforms, carry first aid kits, buses are yellow in colour, and the buses do not have curtains, said district administration officials.