The Ministry of Transport has just issued a document soliciting comments on the draft Circular promulgating the National Technical Regulation (QCVN) on technical safety quality and environmental protection for automobiles (replacing QCVN 09:2015/BGTVT).

Notably, the new draft standard adds a type of school bus with specific technical safety requirements to ensure the best level of safety in student transportation activities.

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School buses are proposed with some new technical standards. (Illustration photo)

Accordingly, a school bus is defined as a specialized passenger vehicle, designed as a passenger vehicle to transport no less than 9 students (from kindergarten, elementary to high school) and student managers.

For vehicles transporting preschool children, the maximum number of students allowed to be transported is 45; for vehicles transporting primary and secondary school students, the maximum number of students allowed to be transported is 56.

In addition to the general requirements of the standards, school buses must meet specific requirements from identification color to safety structure, monitoring system inside and outside the vehicle, and emergency alarm system.

Regarding external identification, school buses must be uniformly colored in a dark yellow covering the body of the vehicle. The front and sides of the vehicle above the windows must have signs identifying them as school buses. The school bus code must be numbered and located on both sides of the vehicle and in the front and rear of the vehicle.

The bus must have its own signs, the back of the bus must have a stop sign, a sign warning other vehicles not to overtake the bus parked at the bus stop to pick up or drop off students. The bus must have barriers installed in the front and rear to create a safe structure in case of collision.

Inside the vehicle, the student seats must not be arranged in the first row of seats together with the driver's seat. The school bus has seats arranged from the second row onwards and is equipped with two-point seat belts; no luggage rack is installed above (luggage compartment is arranged on the side of the vehicle); steps have handrails in accordance with standards.

The vehicle shall have an emergency exit that can be opened from the inside or outside and must be locked to accommodate evacuation or rescue to the outside of the vehicle in emergency situations.

The vehicle must be equipped with at least one first aid kit clearly marked with international symbols and an emergency warning switch in special cases; a fire extinguisher must be equipped to prevent fire.

The draft standard states: "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 vehicle.

External cameras to monitor the situation outside the boarding and alighting doors before picking up and dropping off students. Devices must be equipped with a system to record and process driver information.

There is 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.

Should do even though it is more expensive

Speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Dr. Nguyen Van Hoa, founder of Nguyen Binh Khiem school system (Cau Giay district, Hanoi ) fully supports the proposal of the Ministry of Transport and said that in many countries, school buses have a different shape that is immediately visible.

“In Vietnam, due to many factors, it is not possible to have such vehicles, so using paint colors for common vehicles is also a way to identify school buses.

I am afraid that businesses providing school bus services will not necessarily support this proposal. But to serve schools, especially students, I want it to be professional. Therefore, I support this option, even though it is a bit more expensive, but it should be done," Dr. Nguyen Van Hoa expressed.

According to Dr. Nguyen Van Hoa, having a school bus with its own color will be very convenient during traffic, and if an incident occurs, support will be received. In particular, he strongly agrees with the regulation requiring an alarm system and emergency sound when a student is left on the bus for no more than 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, a transport company said that if school buses are required to have their own paint color, it will be costly for the company to re-register to change the paint color.

In addition, currently, in addition to transporting students, many vehicles are still used for other purposes. If this regulation is passed, school buses will only be used to transport students and cannot be used for other purposes. This will increase the cost for students' families.

School bus transportation has become quite popular in big cities in our country. In fact, there have been a number of cases where students were left behind in school buses, including cases where the children were not discovered in time. However, there are currently no specific standards for school buses.