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Children being left on school buses, or even locked in buses for hours on hot days, is a scenario that scares many people, but this unfortunate incident has happened in many countries around the world.
The need to transport children to and from school safely is a given. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, consider transporting children to and from school to be the responsibility of the primary and secondary education systems. In the United States, educators view school transport as a gateway to education and a factor in social and economic equality. In these countries, strict school bus safety regulations are an important requirement to ensure safe, efficient and sustainable school transport.
In most developed countries, school buses are a very popular means of transport. They are economical, flexible, relatively safe and are becoming increasingly popular.
Countries like the United States, Canada, and New Zealand have many years of experience providing school bus services. In the United States, school buses have been transporting children for about 100 years. Every day, up to 25 million children travel by bus, with nearly 480,000 school buses in operation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that school buses are 87 times safer than private cars. However, there have been some unfortunate incidents of children being left in buses, leading to the need for special equipment on school buses.
In the US state of California, the above regulation was issued after the tragic death of Paul Lee, 19 years old, a student with special needs, who was forgotten on a bus for 9 hours in 32 degree heat. The driver did not check the vehicle before parking in Whittier, California on September 11, 2015.
Accordingly, school buses must be equipped with a child safety warning system. This is an alarm located at the back of the vehicle, connected to the engine. After the driver turns off the engine, the driver must go to the back of the vehicle to turn off the device. If the driver forgets to check the vehicle, the alarm will sound to warn everyone.
Many places in the US have also developed apps that allow parents to track their children’s exact location using Z-Pass cards that students use to scan sensors on buses. In addition, drivers are given a tablet to track students on the bus.
School buses are also equipped with cameras to prevent theft or bullying.
In South Korea, authorities have imposed regulations requiring kindergartens and schools to install vehicle monitoring systems to check if any children are left in vehicles.
Under the new regulations, school buses must be equipped with a system that detects sleeping children. After parking, the driver must turn off the system by pressing a button or attaching a tag to the rear of the vehicle.
If the driver fails to turn the system off within three minutes of turning off the engine, an alarm will sound. Drivers who fail to comply will face fines of up to $115.
The regulation was introduced after a tragic incident in July 2018, when a four-year-old girl was found dead on a bus in Dongducheon, Kyunggi Province, seven hours after being left alone in the hot weather. No one at the daycare center realized she was still on the bus.
In 2016, another four-year-old boy was found unconscious after being left on a bus for more than seven hours in scorching heat.
In Thailand, incidents of children being left alone in vehicles are also becoming more common. The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) has introduced a new system for school buses that allows schools and parents to monitor the status of students on board, providing an additional layer of safety against children being left alone in vehicles.
The system, called Smart School Bus, is equipped with GPS to track the vehicle's location, student tracking devices, and an artificial intelligence (AI) system to process and report information such as vehicle speed, condition, and status of children on board.
Information provided by vehicles equipped with the system will be sent to parents via a companion app and will be accessible online by schools. Parents will receive notifications when the vehicle approaches their home, when their child drops off at school, and when their child arrives home.
The Smart School Bus system is also equipped with sensors that work in tandem with tracking devices to detect any children left behind in the vehicle. Teachers can call the vehicle directly to speak to any stranded children.
The project has been piloted in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Phuket, Chonburi, Rayong and Chachoengsao.
In the most recent incident, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a 4-year-old girl living in Sharjah was forgotten on a bus by a bus driver but luckily survived. According to her parents, the girl got on the bus at around 6am and fell asleep because the bus driver forgot to take her to school and the driver found her crying on the next bus carrying boys.
School buses are the most convenient means of transportation for students in the UAE. Unfortunately, there have been several cases of children suffocating to death after falling asleep on school buses, mostly due to the negligence of school staff and drivers. Therefore, many regulations have been put in place to ensure the safety of children.
The UAE Roads and Transport Authority has issued strict controls for schools, parents and school bus operators.
Accordingly, the window film on school buses must not exceed 30%, and the windows can only be opened a maximum of 10 cm, whether from the top down or from the side. School buses are also not allowed to have curtains installed.
School bus operators are also installing sleep alert systems. These systems rely on cameras and motion sensors to detect when a child has fallen asleep.
All bus monitors will have to check at least twice before closing the bus to ensure that no students or foreign objects are left on the bus. At the end of each trip, the driver will have to hang a special sign on the windshield that reads “No Students on the Bus.” If the bus driver does not put the sign on after closing the bus and driving to a designated parking lot, they will be heavily fined.
In China, school bus services have a shorter history than in many other countries. However, most school buses are equipped with modern technology, allowing parents to monitor their children's images in real time, helping them know whether their children are safe or not.
