Children not buckling up in school buses

Public transport offers more safety than private cars, transport experts say

The majority of children in school buses across the UAE still fail to buckle up, even though doing so can reduce traffic injuries by 40 to 80 per cent, road safety experts said in the capital yesterday.

This negligence makes school buses appear less safe, even though international research suggests that travelling by bus is seven times safer than using private vehicles, they said.

“The use of seat belts is nonnegotiable, whether in a car or a bus, and this is what parents, educators and the authorities need to enforce if they want to ensure children’s safety,” Thomas Edelman, founder and managing director of online traffic safety portal, Road Safety UAE, told Gulf News.

Edelman was speaking on the sidelines of the Natrans Expo, a two-day conference and exhibition focusing on transportation in the UAE.

Many of the injuries in last month’s three-bus collision in Abu Dhabi could have been prevented if children had been seated and buckled up, as traffic authorities later pointed out, he added.

Edelman was referring to the September 29 accident involving two school buses and a public shuttle bus that left 47 people injured, including 39 children. Authorities attributed the crash to speeding and the failure of drivers to maintain a safe distance, and said that many children had not been buckled up at the time of the accident.

“We know that public transport is safer in general, mainly because buses are slower and because using public transport reduces congestion. Moreover, school buses are clearly visible, and people are careful when it is obvious that children are on board,” Edelman said.

‘Instil right practices’

“Parents must make sure that they instil the right practices among children, especially when it is as simple as wearing a seat belt,” he added.

Col Augustine, managing director of School Transport Services that serves more than 65 schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, advocates the use of the school bus.

“Across the UAE, less than 40 per cent of school-going children take the bus. This adds to congestion on the roads which, in turn, reduces road safety,” he said.

Tawab Kazemi, country director and head of transportation for the Middle East at transport research firm TRL, said, “Accidents occur among both buses and cars, but research shows that buses are safer. It’s just that an incident involving a school bus gets more attention than the numerous road traffic accidents that involve children going to school in cars.”