Fitness certificates of 30 vehicles from various educational institutions in the district have been cancelled for lack of emergency exit doors, mandatory safety equipment, which assumed the highest priority, Tuticorin Regional Transport Officer K. Anand said here on Wednesday.
With schools set to reopen in the first week of June, the officials have geared towards checking these vehicles. As per the High Court order, vehicles of educational institutions must be checked by the authorities every year to ensure that safety equipments were in place to avert any accident on road. Out of a total of 453 vehicles owned by educational institutions in the district, 95 vehicles had so far been inspected by Transport authorities.
On the premises of Tuticorin Regional Transport office, Assistant Superintendent of Police P. Arun Sakthi Kumar also inspected some vehicles. He appealed to the vehicle drivers to follow safety guidelines as laid down by the High Court.
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The RTO said the fitness cancelation orders could be revoked once the vehicle operators fulfilled the mandatory safety guidelines and standards. It was essential that each of these vehicles were provided with emergency exit door, speed governor with a restriction of 50 kilometre per hour speed limit, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, name boards inscribed ‘School Bus’ at front and rear sides and stickers with a student carrying school bag. More importantly, all vehicles should display contact phone numbers of transport managers deputed by school administrations, Regional Transport Officer, e-mail ID and police station under whose jurisdiction the institution was located. It was mandatory that all vehicles of educational institutions must be painted in yellow. Each vehicle should maintain a 25 to 30 cm footboard.
Further, he added that drivers should be more cautious while picking up students and dropping them to avoid any accident.
Similar checks would be carried out in vehicles at Kovilpatti on May 26. If any operator failed to turn up with the vehicle for inspection, which would be continued until May 30, the authorities would seize such vehicles. Moreover, Motor Vehicle Inspectors would also check whether any vehicle was plying on the road with a cancelled fitness certificate, he said.
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