Himachal Pradesh bans school vehicles older than 15 years

Shimla: To ensure the safety of students Himachal Pradesh has banned school buses older than 15 years and limited the driver's age to maximum 60years, here on Sunday.

"The government has decided to cap the life of all school vehicles, including buses and cabs, to 15 years," the government spokesperson told media.

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The government is implementing such strict rules to prevent school bus accidents from happening in the region. The decision has come in the wake of a school bus accident in Nurpur town in Kangra district on April 9 that claimed 28 lives, including 24 students in the age group of nine to 12 years.

A notification in this regard was issued by Principal Secretary (Transport) Jagdish Sharma last week.

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The new rules that are to be implemented include:

• The driver should not be above the age of 60 and must have a five-year experience of driving heavy vehicles.
• The drivers will also need to undergo eye check-up every year.
• The new guidelines will be applicable to all modes of transport, including buses and small vehicles like cabs and vans.
• As per the notification, each school transportation vehicle must have vehicle tracking system, CCTV cameras and a speed limit of 40 km per hour, besides provision of grills on the bus windows.
• The carrying capacity of each school vehicle be limited to one and a half times the seating capacity declared in the registration certificate.
• The driver and the conductor should be neatly dressed and wear name tags.

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