The Regional Transport Office here has made it clear that the school and college vans and buses that commute students from various destinations to their institutions would not be allowed to do so from June 1 onwards until these vehicles were found to be in proper condition.
Since the State government has made mandatory the annual inspection by Regional Transport Offices across Tamil Nadu following freak mishaps involving school vehicles in which a few students were killed, the vans and buses of educational institutions are being brought for the annual inspection.
According to Regional Transport Officer, Tirunelveli, K. Thangavelu, 184 vehicles would be inspected in the RTO office here within a week.
“We’ll certify the vehicles only after inspecting the vans and buses if these vehicles were fulfilling the 22 safety aspects. Vehicles that fail to conform to the stipulated safety aspects will not be certified and hence these vehicles will not be allowed to transport children from June 1,” Mr. Thangavelu said.
Three teams, led by Motor Vehicle Inspectors Sashi, Kannan and Perumal, were inspecting the vehicles for installation of speed governor, emergency exit, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, quality of the floor, etc.
Moreover, drivers’ licences were also checked on the occasion.
When the emergency exit of a few school vans failed to conform to the stipulated standards, the drivers were asked to take the vehicles back and produce them before June 1 after rectification.
“The emergency exits should be 100 cm wide and 150 cm height. Since 35 vehicles were found to be having smaller emergency exits, the vehicles were sent back,” Mr. Thangavelu said.
