Educational authorities have been informed to take steps to change school and college timings to 7.30 a.m. and 8 a.m. respectively, instead of the existing timings, as part of efforts to prevent footboard travel accidents, the transport department, submitted before the Madras High Court on Friday.
When a suo motu petition relating to the Kandanchavadi accident on December 10 — in which four students on an MTC bus footboard were caught between the bus and a lorry — came up for further hearing before the First Bench, principal secretary, transport, Braj Kishore Prasad, in an action-taken report, said the MTC had been directed to post trained and experienced crew in buses plying on routes where frequent accidents occurred.
Further, MTC, had been directed to conduct meetings with drivers and conductors to educate them in tackling troublesome students. The city traffic police also filed a report.
The Bench adjourned the matter to January 17 to enable the authorities to produce a copy of the information received with regard to the decision taken at a meeting conducted by the government to prevent footboard travel.
