School buses struggle to comply with new regulations

From January 1, 2025, school buses are required to meet many new regulations to improve safety. However, up to now, many businesses have had difficulty implementing them.

Proposal to declare qualified equipment

As a unit with about 30 vehicles serving the activities of picking up and dropping off students and transporting passengers under contract on weekends, holidays, and Tet, An Du Trading Company Limited is struggling to choose equipment to prevent students from being left behind on the vehicle according to regulations.

School buses increase visibility on the road by sticking school bus symbols

A representative of this company said that the unit has equipped all vehicles with student identification systems, but has not yet been able to install anti-leakage devices.

According to the representative, this is a new product, the unit has never approached it, and it is not clear which products on the market are guaranteed, and it is not known how to install them to meet the regulations: "I am afraid that if we buy and install them ourselves, when the authorities inspect and require replacement, it will cost a lot of investment."

According to PV's research, there are currently a number of anti-child-leaving-in-vehicle devices on the Vietnamese market, such as NT-100B (priced at 3.5 million VND) or a product produced by the Center for Research, Application and Transfer of Criminal Science Technology priced at 9.5 million VND.

Having tested the installation of anti-child abandonment devices on the company's vehicles, Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Director of Newway Transport Joint Stock Company, said that the company ordered the supplier to produce the device in the form of an alarm bell placed at the back of the vehicle.

When the car is turned off, the bell rings and the driver must go under the car to turn it off. During this process, the driver will look at both sides of the row of seats to check if there are still students on the bus.

"The product was manufactured based on the unit's needs, and standards had not been announced. When installed on the vehicle, it was subjected to an electrical surge, causing incorrect readings on the vehicle's speedometer," said Mr. Hung, adding that due to concerns about affecting vehicle safety, the unit had removed the product and asked the supplier to research a different design.

According to Mr. Hung, management agencies and functional forces need to announce products that meet quality standards on the market as well as provide instructions on how to install them to ensure technical safety.

Acceptance of newly qualified renovations

The leader of the Department of Motor Vehicle Quality - Vietnam Register said that when manufacturing and importing specialized cars for transporting children and students, they must comply with the requirements on technical safety and environmental protection in QCVN 09:2024, which clearly stipulates the requirements for devices to prevent children from being left in the car.

For passenger cars that currently operate as a combination of transportation and student transportation, the provisions of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety also require the installation of additional devices to prevent children from being left in the vehicle.

This equipment is not included in the group of spare parts that must have national technical regulations and conformity declaration, therefore the equipment manufacturer is responsible for self-declaration and responsibility for product quality standards.

A traffic expert said that normally, reputable manufacturing units will coordinate with agencies and units that have the function of certifying product quality in the field to inspect and certify quality.

When the transport company purchases the product, it can ask the seller to provide this certificate to check the product quality.

Sharing more, the leader of the Vietnam Register said that installing additional anti-child neglect devices on passenger cars today will affect the vehicle's electrical system.

Therefore, it is necessary to carry out vehicle renovation, have the renovation inspected and certified by the inspection agency after equipment installation, and the new car will meet technical safety conditions to participate in traffic.

Each car's identification sticker is different.

According to the reporter's records in Hanoi, up to now, most of the cars used for transportation combined with the activities of picking up and dropping off preschool children and students have been equipped with identification systems placed on the front, back and both sides of the vehicle.

This identity is designed in a rectangular shape, with a red border. Inside the red background is an image of two students moving, with the words "School bus" below.

According to observations, the location of this identification symbol on vehicles is not uniform. Some vehicles place it inside the windshield in the bottom middle position; some vehicles place it on the top center of the windshield, and some vehicles place it on the body of the vehicle above the windshield.

On the back of the car, some vehicles have stickers on the outside of the right rear window, but some vehicles also have stickers on the inside even though the car window is covered with black heat-insulating film, reducing the ability to identify.

A school bus driver said that the current identification stickers on the vehicle are quite large, and when stuck on the front windshield, it limits visibility.

"Sticking it in the upper right corner will obscure the traffic lights, and sticking it below will limit the visibility of other road users. To have the least impact, it must be stuck in the middle of the upper or lower glass, or stuck on the front of the car outside the windshield area," said this driver.

In fact, this design is not the same as the guidance in QCVN 09:2024 of the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) on technical safety and environmental protection for cars. Because according to the standard, the identification symbol for school buses is a square measuring 350x350mm, without the words "School bus".

According to a traffic expert, this may be the reason why the size of the school bus identification symbol is larger, making it difficult for drivers to observe. Therefore, the authorities need to guide businesses in choosing the right school bus identification symbol, both to increase the vehicle's recognition and to ensure traffic safety.

Dr. Khuong Kim Tao, former Deputy Head of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that when school buses have identification, it is necessary to study a priority mechanism for this type of vehicle in organizing, dividing traffic, regulating traffic, arranging stopping and parking places in school areas and at points on the route for school buses.

At the same time, educational institutions and transportation businesses need to coordinate closely in managing the process of picking up and dropping off children, complying with regulations on having at least one person to supervise children on the vehicle, and cars with 29 seats or more must have at least two managers.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/xe-cho-hoc-sinh-loay-hoay-thuc-hien-quy-dinh-moi-192250313233127686.htm