The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (specifications), the need for the commitment of school bus operators, provided with a rear camera that helps the driver to avoid the risk of accidents while backward, where police reports during the past years, recorded a number of deaths of students in accidents run over after they get off school buses, Due to lack of attention and lack of compliance by bus drivers to safety guidelines, as well as frequent incidents of forgetting students, especially young people, inside school buses.
The TRA assured Emirates Today that the technical regulations on buses transporting students to and from schools obliged operators to set a set of safety procedures and requirements that must be available in buses intended for transporting students, including the shelf life of the bus. 15 years, and may be extended if a comprehensive renovation takes place, up to a maximum of five years.
The Authority stressed that the bus should be provided with fire extinguishers according to the size of the bus (medium or large), and put a first aid box in a clear place, and provide the school bus with a means to reduce the maximum speed, not to exceed 80 kilometers per hour, in order to ensure the safety of students.
The Authority reviewed a number of mandatory specifications, including determining the depth of the entrance to the bus, to ensure the safety of students in the boarding and landing, and the high degrees of the doors of boarding and disembarkation in the bus, and that these steps are provided with a non-slip, as well as cover the corridor inside the bus with the same material, and provide a system of air conditioning The bus has emergency exits commensurate with the number of passengers, and all interior materials used in the manufacture of seats and floor are flame retardant.
Regarding the windows of school buses, the Authority stated that the regulation prohibited the possibility of opening the window for more than 20 cm horizontally or vertically, in addition to providing a manual means to control the opening of doors from outside in emergency situations. The greatest protection for students, especially during a sudden stop of the bus.
For its part, the Federal Traffic Council, during its recent meeting, recommended the ban on the use of minibuses (minibuses) «for the transfer of passengers, as of the first of January 2023, and also prevent the use of these buses to transport students in private schools as of September 1, 2021.
Social media followers reacted to a report published by Emirates Today on the stop sign, stressing that school bus drivers are making serious mistakes during the descent and boarding of students, including unsafe parking on the road, and standing for a long time after opening the stop sign. , Causing obstruction of traffic, leaving children crossing the street on their own, and not standing in the direction of the student's house.
They suggested tightening the penalty for drivers who do not commit to stop their vehicles when the arm stop from school buses, and to stop safely on the road, so that students do not have to cross the road, putting them at risk of run over, and training supervisors and supervisors on how to safely cross the road, so that their movement With the students from behind the bus, not in front of it, so they can see the vehicles coming in more clearly.