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A project for safe school buses

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI FEB. 18. Concerned over the increasing safety hazards faced by students during their travel from home to school and back, the Automobile Association of Upper India (AAUI) in association with Delhi Public School Society has launched a "Safe School Bus 2003'' project.

The ambitious project -- said to be the first of its kind in the country -- is aimed at making school management, bus drivers, students and parents understand their responsibilities towards safe transportation of school children.

At a function held here today in the presence of the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor, Vijai Kapoor, the AAUI and Delhi Public School Society signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard.

``The project will cover 1,800 contract carriage buses, over 1,000 buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation, RTVs (rural transport vehicles) involved in transporting school children,'' the AAUI president, T. K. Malhotra, said.

The AAUI has brought out a brochure on "School Bus Safety'' and a booklet on the "ABC of Road Safety'' for distribution among school students for awareness. The brochure "Know the Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules'' when handed over to the drivers by the respective schools will serve as an instant reminders for drivers to adhere to the rules, he said.

As many as six workshops have been planned in the Capital's schools to provide a common platform to the management, parents, students, drivers and conductors to learn by interacting on safety aspects of school transport, Mr. Malhotra said, adding: "Road safety experts will be associated with this programme.''

Under the project, the AAUI has commenced special courses to upgrade the driving skills of the drivers deployed on school bus duties. Some of the important features of this syllabus that has been approved by the Delhi Transport Department include skills in handling vehicles, stress management and relaxation techniques, child psychology, driving habits and compulsory reflexes test and eye examination.

The decision to launch this project, Mr. Malhotra said, was taken at a recent meeting chaired by the Delhi Transport Commissioner on the menace on Capital's roads taking toll of innocent lives of school children in crashes involving school transport.

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