91 school vehicles penalized for violating traffic rules in Noida

NOIDA: The assistant regional transport officer (ARTO) has fined 59 school buses and seized 32 school vans for traffic violations in the past one week. Officials said most of these vehicles were not adhering to the standard permit norms prescribed by the Supreme Court.
“With the commencement of schools in the monsoon session, we started a one-week enforcement drive.We found that several buses were violating the permit norms. Some drivers did not have valid licences and were not following the dress code. Some buses did not have functional GPS, speed governors, fire extinguishers and first aid boxes. All these buses were fined. Vans which did not have permits and fitness certificates were seized,” Rajesh Singh, ARTO (enforcement), said.
Rachna Yaduvanshi, ARTO, said the maximum speed limit for school buses is 40kmph. “All buses and vans should have a functional speed governor. The ARTO will not issue fitness certificates to vehicles that do not have these,” she said.
The Supreme Court has issued detailed guidelines for the safety of school buses. Bus drivers, for instance, should have at least five years of driving experience. A driver who has been fined more than twice in a year, for offences like jumping the red light, violation of lane discipline or allowing unauthorized persons to drive, cannot be employed to ferry schoolchildren. Officials said a driver who has been challaned even once for speeding, drunk driving, rash driving, etc cannot be engaged by schools.
Besides, no school bus can exceed its capacity by more than one and a half times.