[DRC]

I saw the news this morning, a school girl was run over by a truck in JeevanBima nagar. It is a very unfortunate accident.

As I read in the news paper, there was a tension among the residents about the movement of trucks in the area, where truck and tractors are prohibited, which is understandable..

I have a few thoughts here to share with you all...
Is it wise if the truck I repeat truck is involved in a mishap, trucks should be banned there? I am not advocating the trucks but reading the news a little more carefully, I feel the bus, out of which the girl got out of was more of a culprit, than the truck. She has gone under the wheels, when trying to cross the road when the road is blinded by the bus itself, which indicated the bus did not stop in the bay, or there was no bay at all! BMP??

Now had it been a BMTC bus instead of a truck, the case would have been similar, A BMTC bus is identical to the truck, by size, weight and the way it is driven, etc.. exception the truck was a tanker. In that case, do we look at the situatio with same eyes? After all, public's convenience is involved in banning the BMTC!! I am not blaming them either, because, it can happen with any other vehicle, when driven inconsiderately.

A million dollar question! who is accountable for the safty of lives, be it pedestrians, drivers, any one?

[tifosikrishna]

here is another similar incidence in chennai.

8-year-old girl run over by van that dropped her
The private van, which ran over the girl, stationed at Shastri Nagar police station.
CHENNAI: An eight-year-old girl living in Adyar was run over on Wednesday by the van that regularly dropped her after school.
N. Jaishree, daughter of N.V. Nagesh, a resident of Venkateswara Nagar, was dropped at Padmanabha Nagar 5th street junction, where she attended a creche till her parents picked her up after work.
Minutes after she alighted, she was run over by the private van. The driver, Madhiazhagan, a resident of Tiruvanmiyur, was arrested and the vehicle seized. The police said the child walked to the front of the van, which the driver had not expected.
Azgar, an eyewitness, said he stopped by when he saw the bleeding child under the Mahindra van. He and other passers-by took Jaishree to Malar hospital, where she was declared dead.
The body was taken to Royapettah Government Hospital. Parents and relatives requested that the post-mortem be completed the same day so that they could take the body home. However, hospital authorities said it could be scheduled only for Thursday morning as the body was brought after 5.30 p.m.
Jaishree is the only child of her parents. Her mother went into a state of shock when she came to know of the death and her father was too grieved to speak. When contacted, a friend of the parents said several residents in the neighbourhood used the services of the private van to transport children to school and back.
There have been several instances of schoolchildren being run over by vans. In some cases, school vans were the culprits. In 2004, two three-year-old children died in similar accidents.
Mostly, it was kindergarten and primary schoolchildren, who met with such accidents.
In July 2003, a 14-year-old boy, studying in a private school in Erukkancheri, was run over by a school van.
Many students got injured in such accidents in the recent year

[nitrous]

There's a need for a strict standard in the transportation of school children.

Special buses,vans, training for drivers,conductors,etc...

Only this can change the current dangerous situation for School going children.

[zenx]

yes, hardly ever is a technically competent analysis of what actually caused an accident or mishap really done. Its usually more an emotional reaction than a studied one - and helps nobody in the long run. A bike can kill as much as a truck can, and you cannot ban those. Its more important to ensure drop offs happen in a sensible way.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by nitrous

There's a need for a strict standard in the transportation of school children.

Special buses,vans, training for drivers,conductors,etc...

Only this can change the current dangerous situation for School going children.

A school-going child is an immature road user, due to tender age. He/she may dart across the road chasing a flying piece of paper.

In the USA, they have slightly mitigated the danger to a school child's life and limb as follows.

A stopped school-bus is equivalent to a red traffic signal.

All traffic approaching or overtaking from either direction (front or back) of a stopped school bus flashing alternating red lamps must stop and not move until the bus moves again or the red lights are off.

And the school-bus will not switch off its flashing red light until its dropped or to-be-picked up children have completed crossing the road.

People who violate this rule face heavy penalties, including fines, adding demerit points against or even suspending driver licenses, and occasionally imprisonment.

Belgium and Germany require traffic to pass stopped school buses at dead slow speed that allow quick stop.

Japan, Taiwan, and UK ask drivers to pass carefully a stopped school bus.

The speed limit is 20 km/h in New Zealand when passing a stopped school bus.

[nitrous]

A school-going child is an immature road user, due to tender age. He/she may dart across the road chasing a flying piece of paper.

In the USA, they have slightly mitigated the danger to a school child's life and limb as follows.

A stopped school-bus is equivalent to a red traffic signal.

All traffic approaching or overtaking from either direction (front or back) of a stopped school bus flashing alternating red lamps must stop and not move until the bus moves again or the red lights are off.

And the school-bus will not switch off its flashing red light until its dropped or to-be-picked up children have completed crossing the road.

People who violate this rule face heavy penalties, including fines, adding demerit points against or even suspending driver licenses, and occasionally imprisonment.

Belgium and Germany require traffic to pass stopped school buses at dead slow speed that allow quick stop.

Japan, Taiwan, and UK ask drivers to pass carefully a stopped school bus.

The speed limit is 20 km/h in New Zealand when passing a stopped school bus

This, and a lot more is what we need.

School buses in our country shouldn't be any other bus.
They should meet a set of rules to be licensed as a school bus.
These buses can be given special tax advantages.
They must undergo FC(fitness certification) every year.

Road users must be more careful about others on the road.
Parents must make sure their children have boarded/ dropped safely.
It takes a lot of effort to make this happen.

[DRC]

I agree

In a country where there are special previlages for all wrong people and wrong reasons, I wonder why not give children a previlege of safety!