[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by ajmat

My daughter's school is 20 km away. The school has engaged BMTC and planned the routes so that no bus stops more than 5 times and no journey is beyond an hour. Each child is accounted for and none are allowed to walk home alone without written parent permission. A teacher will remain on the bus till the last stop. No bus is over full

If there is a delay/ jam, the school office monitors this and lets us know.

Recently during a week when a school play was held in the evening. The principal personally told the kids which buses to go where and supervised their departure rather than hobnob with the parents afterwards.

I pay nearly 1200 per month but the peace of mind is priceless

This is something that schools need to learn. And the price is great even by the standards of my relatively small city Vadodara.

Here the rates are : 8kms Auto( insanely overloaded ): 500rs/month
8kms Van ( running domestic LPG cylinder, insanely overloaded ) : 800rs./month
8kms Bus : 1000rs/month. adminstered by school.
Bus facality is good and no overloading or something like that.
Its hard to find a bus though.

I have seen that the kids are very happy to sit on the bench just above the cylinder and sometimes they even manage to sit on that cylinder. I have observed this also.

[Mpower]

Here is a pic of an American school bus. Its not optional..all schools must use similar design. As soon as the bus stops, a couple of stop signs swing out and red lights flash. All traffic front and behind comes to a stop as long as the lights are flashing.

A retractrable bar swings out in front of the bus till its ready to move. This is so that in the event that a car fails to stop and comes flying past and a kid tries to cross the road in font of the bus (kid cannot see the car because of the bus), it will prevent the kid fron crossing. Also, by law all school buses have to stop in front of any railroad crossing (even when the gate is open), open and close their doors and then start moving.

My uncle had an accident in Hyd where he was driving past a stopped bus and a kid came running across the road from front of the bus such that neither could see each other.

[harshavardhan]

Just saw this thread. Taking care of the children is the responsibility of the parents irrespective of the social / economic status. There are options available across the economic range for transporting / ferrying kids to school. A practical and safe option has to be worked out by the parents. All it needs is a little planning and forethought. End of the day, one should realise that the their kids safety is paramount and that they alone are responsible for it. Surely no amount of money can substitute one's kids.

-Harshavardhan

[anjan_c2007]

These are images from near a reputed school in Nagpur during winter 2008. The children jostle as they find their way from in between moving cars.Its only providence that nothing serious happens.

[lohithrao]

Have been noticing oflate that most of the schooll bus/vans are very badly maintained... and most of them are driven very rashly! They stop where ever they want without signalling...

I would request the parents here sending their kids in school buses to keep a check!

Its completely unsafe in many cases, don't know when things can go wrong!

[diabloo]

Bangalore Police has setup child helpline: number is 1098.

You are report all exploitation against children.

:: www.bcp.gov.in - Makkala* SahayaVani ::

[cnaganathan]

Had the same problem with my Kids in Chennai - older one has full day school and younger one has half day (KG). Afternoon van did not have an attender - it was just the driver. And my son was the last to get dropped. Decided to appoint a driver - against wifey's opposition. And this became one more reason to switch over to a diesel car too.

[AbhiJ]

I work in an industrial cum residential area, in the outskirts of Calcutta. Hence there is always a rush of kids going/coming back from school in this area. Trucks and 407s also use the same road. Most small kids commute to/from school in rickshaw vans. These are custom made for school duty. The cycle rickshaw is converted to have two rows of seats in the rear, and a metal body is made for the same. An average to 10-12 kids are stuffed in the van and transported.

The unsafe part.. This area has an two lane railway overbridge, which is pretty steep to climb for non engined vehicles. So when the rickshaw van climbs this bridge, the kids actually get out and are made to push!! On this bridge, most vehicles drive at 40 kmph. After crossing the inclined area, they are stuffed in again. This happens everyday, to and fro.

[supremeBaleno]

This pic came in yesterday's Deccan Chronicle.



Notice the girl seated beside the auto-driver. It won't take much for her to fall off the auto on to the road, leading to a serious injury/fatality.

[alpha_romeo]

(This is from one of the local newspaper)
Who is resposible ???

[live360]

[quote=Samurai;When will this crazy practice end?
[/quote]

Samurai, I have just seen this thread and I'm totally with you.

A similar incident happened last month at may native (coastal AP).

RTO stopped an auto rickshaw (3 wheeler, diesel) for overloading and asked passengers to get off. To his amazement, there were 27 fully grown adults. They are the poor laborers travel by auto on a daily basis for work within 30 KM. RTO has gone trough series of emotions to settle at curiosity.

After a good scold RTO told the auto driver if he seats all the passengers back as he originally did within two minutes, he will let them go without any fine and all of them are back at their original places under a minute and drove away.

It felt funny and sad at the same time when I heard this.

[eternalck]

Attached are pictures i took this morning in Dwarka, New Delhi, a routine sight...
Apart from blaming the lack of implementation of rules by the cops and what not, i'm wondering how do the parents agree to this!?

Its not so clear from the second pic, but i saw that the kids probably standing in the boot!

[Bullitt]

This sight is not very different than the overloaded rickshaws that ferry school children in our city everyday. These kids are lucky, at least they have a tin box with 4 wheels! 10-12 kids travelling in a 3-wheeled bajaj autorickshaw with their bags and waterbottles hanging on the fare meter is a very common sight in this part of the country. In case you are wondering where they all sit, then apart from the rear seat which takes 4-5, an equal number of kids sit on the board behind the rear seat (above the rickshaw's engine, if it's RE) and on both sides of the driver!
As for the parents, I guess it is simply because they have no other choice but to succumb to the apathy of these scoundrels. Not every parent has the time, and can afford to, drop their wards off to school and pick them up everyday. And the less said about our public transport system, the better.
In my opinion, they should make it mandatory for schools to run their own bus service, and disallow private auto/cab owners from indulging in this business. Nobody should be allowed to open and run a school without first providing for safe and comfortable tranportation for the kids. Unfortunately, a sizeable number of schools are owned and run by our mighty political class, and this will only remain a pipe dream. If wishes were horses...
On second thoughts, this picture speaks volumes about how much we care about the "future of our country"! Jawaharlal Nehru must be turning in his grave.
I have heard that in the US, even passing a school bus that is loading/ unloading kids is considered a serious traffic violation, and even the President's motorcade is obliged to stop for the same (except in case of emergency). I wonder when the sun will shine on that day, when we have such stringent laws in our beloved country! (sigh)

[sachinj12]

You need to see the autos ferrying school children in Bangalore. 12-15 is the norm. Have seen 20 children in an auto once!!

[prince_pervez]

But this has been since I was in school. These things are totally unsafe and parents should start looking for safer alternatives. I used to have a tough time in these autos and was releived when I could take the bicycle to school later.