Traffic dept includes school bus drivers in safety drive

Following the school bus mishap in which nine-year-old Viraj Parmar lost his life in November and mounting pressure to enforce the school bus policy, the transport authorities are making drivers of these buses attend sessions on road safety during their ongoing road safety drive.

Following the school bus mishap in which nine-year-old Viraj Parmar lost his life in November and mounting pressure to enforce the school bus policy, the transport authorities are making drivers of these buses attend sessions on road safety during their ongoing road safety drive.

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This is the first time a session has been scheduled for school bus staff, in which the drivers and cleaners of school buses are counselled and sensitised about safety measures.

“Each school bus ferries 45 to 50 students, and therefore providing traffic and safety knowledge to those who drive them is essential. Besides, considering the past incidents, we decided to make them aware of road safety measures, traffic violations, school bus policy, safety rules, and so on,” said Ravinder Patil, senior police inspector of DN Nagar traffic division, which invited over 100 bus drivers from 35 schools in and around DN Nagar to Children Welfare Center (CWC) High School, Yari Road, on Wednesday.

“School bus accidents are on the rise and therefore educating their drivers and cleaners about safety norms is in the students’ interest. We will soon have a session for degree college students, too. The importance of safety rules like wearing seat belts, helmets, following traffic norms, etc. has to be inculcated in people through public awareness,” said Ajay Kaul, principal of CWC high school.

The Andheri regional transport office (RTO) had conducted an awareness program for school bus drivers on January 4 at their office. “We dedicated an entire session for school bus drivers in which 150 drivers from 80 schools participated. These drivers are responsible for around 50 lives, so educating them and clearing their doubts is the first step towards safety of children,” said DV Modak, assistant RTO, Andheri.

Other programs like eye and medical check up, counselling sessions for auto and taxi drivers informing them about various traffic violations and penalties, are also being held across the city.