Proposal that school buses must have alarms if students are left behind

The Ministry of Transport is seeking comments on the Draft Circular promulgating National Technical Regulations on technical safety quality and environmental protection for automobiles (hereinafter referred to as the Draft Circular). One of the notable contents is the technical safety and environmental protection regulations specifically for school buses.

Accordingly, in terms of appearance, school buses must have a uniform dark yellow color covering the body of the vehicle. The front and sides of the vehicle above the windows must have signs identifying them as school buses.

School bus codes must be numbered and located on both sides of the vehicle and in the front and back of the school bus.

The vehicle must have a reflective sign or use electronic LED lights. The rear of the vehicle must have an electric stop sign and a warning sign that other vehicles are not allowed to pass buses parked at the bus stop to pick up or drop off students.

Regarding structure and safety requirements, the Draft Circular stipulates that double-decker buses and buses with a central joint must not be used as school buses. There must be no holes inside or outside the vehicle, no protrusions, no concave areas, no sharp corners, no defects that can easily get into children's fingers and cause injury to students.

For vehicles transporting preschool children, the number of students must not exceed 45 people; for vehicles transporting primary and secondary school students, the maximum number of students must not exceed 56 people.

Regarding student seats, the standard stipulates that they cannot be arranged in the first row with the driver's seat.

For school buses with seats arranged from the second row onwards and equipped with two-point seat belts. In addition, school buses must be installed with front and rear barriers to have a safety structure in case of collision; do not install luggage racks above, but arrange luggage compartments on the side of the vehicle so that the height of the luggage compartment from the floor is less than 1m.

For steps up and down of school buses, handrails must be installed at the passenger doors and there must be no protrusions or edges on the handrails that could cause injury to students.

The passenger area of a school bus intended for use by pupils shall have a flat floor structure and shall be free of steps or raised sections of the floor except for locally raised structures such as wheel covers.

In addition, the exit must be opened from the inside or outside and must be locked to accommodate evacuation or rescue outside the vehicle in emergency situations.

Policy - Proposal that school buses must have an alarm if a student is left behind — If the Draft Circular is approved, school buses must be painted a uniform dark yellow on the outside to increase visibility.

In particular, school buses must be equipped with at least one first aid kit clearly marked with international symbols and an emergency warning switch in special cases. The location of the first aid kit must be secure while the vehicle is moving. Emergency warning switches must be installed in locations that are easy to observe and easy to use in emergency situations.

School buses must be equipped with fire extinguishers to prevent fires. The location of the fire extinguishers must be clearly marked and easily accessible in case of emergency. The passenger compartment must be equipped with at least one fire extinguisher weighing at least 2 kg near the seat of the student manager and one near the seat of the driver.

Notably, the standard also stipulates that school buses must be equipped with equipment to observe the entire passenger area through the interior rearview mirror and an interior camera surveillance system to monitor the driver's behavior, the behavior of the student guardian, and the behavior of the students on the bus.

In addition, there must be an external camera to monitor the situation outside the door before picking up and dropping off students. The devices must be equipped with a system to record and process driver information.

In particular, there must be an alarm system, emergency sound or direct contact to the driver or student manager to warn when a student is left on the vehicle, for no more than 15 minutes.

School buses must be equipped with a speed limiter not exceeding 80km/h. For buses that are BEV, HEV, PHEV, FCEV vehicles using electric motors, the capacity must be not less than 9.0 kW/t .

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