Following the death of a 3-year-old girl who was left in a school bus in Shizuoka Prefecture, the government has compiled emergency measures to prevent a recurrence.
It includes obliging the installation of safety devices on shuttle buses such as kindergartens.
We have summarized the details of the emergency measures and the efforts of each region to prevent the recurrence of the incident.
Government mandates the installation of emergency safety devices
From April next year, the government has compiled emergency measures to prevent recurrence, including requiring the installation of safety devices on approximately 44,000 buses, including nursery school and kindergarten shuttle buses nationwide.
According to this, from April next year, regardless of who is driving or getting on the bus, roll calls will be made to confirm the whereabouts of the child when getting on and off the bus, and childcare nationwide will be implemented to prevent a recurrence. It is obliged to install safety devices to prevent children from being left behind in about 44,000 buses, including schools, kindergartens, and certified children's centers.
Facilities that violate this obligation can be subject to a business suspension order, and if they do not comply, penalties may be imposed.
On the other hand, elementary and junior high schools and after-school children's clubs are less likely to be left behind than small children, so although they do not require the installation of safety devices, they will subsidize the cost if they wish to install them.
We have also created a new safety management manual that stipulates the responsibilities of the principal, etc., and will distribute it to all facilities in the future.
Ogura, the minister in charge of child policy, said, "It is extremely regrettable that young lives have been lost not once, but twice. This time is just the starting line, and we will implement measures at all facilities. I want to be able to get it,” he said.
Emergency measures Details
Details of the emergency measures compiled by the government.
1.Obligation to confirm whereabouts and equip safety devices
First, from April next year, it will be compulsory to confirm the whereabouts of children when getting on and off the shuttle bus, and to install safety devices to prevent children from being left behind.
Of these, the whereabouts of children can be confirmed at nursery schools, kindergartens, certified children's centers, schools for special needs, elementary schools and after-school clubs for children.
On the other hand, about 44,000 shuttle buses, including nursery schools, kindergartens, certified children's centers, and special needs schools, will be subject to the installation of safety devices, and a one-year transitional measure will be established.
Prefectural governments confirm whether appropriate measures are being taken through guidance audits, etc., and if violations of obligations are revealed, they may be subject to a business suspension order, and if they do not comply with the order, they will be penalized. It is said that it may be imposed.
2.Creating guidelines for safety device specifications
It also plans to finalize guidelines on safety device specifications by the end of the year.
The safety device is intended to compensate for human error, and in order not to increase the burden on the facility side, we are considering something that can be installed later on the current shuttle bus.
3.Creating a safety management manual
Regarding thorough safety management, we have created an easy-to-understand manual that stipulates the responsibilities of the principal, etc. In this manual, we organize points according to the flow of pick-up and drop-off work, and check sheets to confirm that children are not left behind. is also included.
In addition, we are calling for attention to wrapping and smoked glass so that the inside of the bus can be checked from the outside.
4. Fiscal measures included in comprehensive economic measures
Furthermore, the government plans to include the measures taken this time in the comprehensive economic measures to be compiled in October, and take financial measures as soon as possible.
Specifically, in addition to supporting the introduction of safety devices for shuttle buses, attendance management systems, and GPS devices to know the whereabouts of children, we will create videos and provide training to deepen understanding of safety management manuals. Implementation is listed as a target of financial measures.
Demonstration experiment of "Alert with AI-equipped camera"
On the other hand, in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, a demonstration experiment was conducted on a device that sends an alert email when a camera equipped with AI developed by a company in Tokyo recognizes a child in the car.
This device was developed in collaboration with a company in Tokyo that provides an AI image recognition service. When an AI-equipped camera installed in the car recognizes an image of a child, it sends an alert email to a smartphone. It is a mechanism to prevent abandonment.
On the 12th, with the cooperation of a certified children's center, a demonstration experiment was conducted on the assumption that one of the four children fell asleep and was left in the car when getting off the bus.
In the experiment, when the child left behind woke up, the camera recognized the child, and a few minutes later, an alert email was sent to the smartphone of the person in charge outside the car.
The e-mail attached a video of the inside of the car, and the staff rushed to take the child out of the car.
Toshimichi Ozawa, the director of Atsugi Denen Gakuen, which operates a certified children's center that cooperated in the experiment, said, "There are check items for the kindergarten bus, and the person in charge is thorough, but I think it would be nice if such a device could be supplemented. I was talking.
Director Yamato Suehiro of "Intelligence Design", which is developing the device, said, "Development has entered the stage of improving the accuracy of the device, and we aim to put it into practical use next spring."
If you are left behind on the bus... Children will be trained
At a kindergarten in Toyama City on the 12th, a training was held to ring the horn and ask for help if the bus was left behind.
At first, the children were unable to hit the horn well because they were weak or weak, but when they were taught to use both hands to put their weight on the horn, they were finally able to sound it properly. .
An older boy said, ``I honked the horn for the first time, but when I pushed it with 100 times the usual force, it sounded.''
Mandatory safety device to be installed Guidelines to be created by the end of the year
On September 9, four days after the incident, Prime Minister Kishida announced that he would proceed with understanding the actual situation of all the facilities nationwide that are picking up and dropping off children by bus, and that Ogura, who is in charge of child policy, would compile measures to prevent a recurrence. instructed the minister in charge.
In response to this, a "Relevant Ministries Meeting" was established under Minister Ogura. The issue has been verified.
Based on the results, at the 4th meeting on the 12th, measures to prevent recurrence, including the mandatory installation of safety devices on more than 40,000 shuttle buses to daycare centers and kindergartens nationwide from April next year, were proposed. I got it together.
The government is considering subsidizing up to about 90% of the cost of installing safety devices, with an upper limit of 200,000 yen per device. It is a policy to include costs.
In addition, regarding the safety devices that must be installed, a working team of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is discussing the necessary functions, etc., and plans to create guidelines within the year.
On the other hand, the government will ask each local government to conduct a field survey by the end of the year in order to ensure not only the installation of the equipment but also the safety management by people.