In an attempt to ensure the safety of schoolchildren commuting by buses, the Tamil Nadu government has proposed to amend relevant rules to ensure every school bus is installed with camera in the front and rear ends.
In a recent notification, the Home Department intended to amend the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules, 2012, to install cameras in school buses.
A camera shall be fixed “in such a manner that the driver while taking reverse can have a complete view of the rear side”, the notification said. A sensor shall also be fixed at the rear end to give warning signal.
As on April 1, 2020, there are a total of 34,463 educational institution buses across the State, according to the Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety. During 2019-2020, 3,670 vehicles were newly registered as school buses.
In 2012, the Madras High Court took suo motu cognisance of an incident in Selaiyur in which a Class II student fell through a hole on the floor of a bus and was fatally run over, and directed the State government to undertake an exercise to ensure the safety of schoolchildren.
Later that year, the State government notified the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules, 2012.
Objections or suggestions, if any, to the intended amendment to the rules relating to installation of cameras and sensors, could be addressed to the Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Secretariat, Chennai 600 009.
