NEW DELHI: On an average at least 29 persons aged below 18 years die daily in
road accidents and most of them are school going students, according to government data. The two major road accidents in the past one month in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have kicked up the debate about safety of students and whether schools follow the set norms.
According to latest available data of 2016, Haryana had the highest number of such fatalities at 1,452 followed by Uttar Pradesh where 1,393 persons of less than 18 years died in road accidents. “I was told that that driver of the fateful vehicle carrying students in UP was using mobile phone while driving. Every driver must realise that by doing so they make the road unsafe for themselves and and for all others,” road transport minister Nitin Gadkari told TOI on the sidelines of an event to mark National Road safety Week.
He added government will try to put in place a warning or alert system for drivers at unmanned crossings.
K K Kapila of International Road Federation said the drivers of school transport vehicles flout all norms by carrying more children than capacity, crossing red light, talking on mobile while driving , necessary permits missing, driving with LPG cylinders, thus risking lives of students. “It’s rampant across the country as the sector still remains unregulated,” he added.
Organisations such as SaveLife Foundation and Institute for Road Traffic Education, which are campaigning for safe transport of children said the successive governments across states follow the same pattern - condolences, ex-gratia relief, political leaders rushing to site and making hollow promises. But nothing has changed as hardly any thorough investigation is carried out to find the actual cause of the accidents.
