ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN INSIST THESE CONDITIONS ARE PLACED IN THEIR SCHOOL BUS CONTRACT ,all they have to do is add it to their school contract.
THIS APPLIES UK WIDE
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As a parent you have every right to ask these questions.
You have every right to know why you council does not implement these safety measure's.
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IT WONT HAPPEN TO US - WE THOUGHT THAT ALSO
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ALL school children deserve a complete safety package UK wide.
Why should children in one area have greater safety measures than children in another, that is a ridiculous situation.
We have this confirmed by the Department of Transport, by The Scottish Government, Stewart Stevenson & again at a meeting instigated by Malcolm Bruce MP this month, also by a expert from the Department of Transport who attended the meeting.
School contracts can contain anything the local authority wishes to place in them,anywhere within the UK, what they consider & MOST
IN FACT USE are the minimum , not the maximum.
Every local authority can ask their transport supplier to provide what they consider is essential for safe travel for every school child on a school bus.Ie Any coach used in school transport
THEY Can ensure each coach is fitted with seat belts, this however will not apply to children using a service bus that is also used as school bus.
Public buses - There is no requirement for a public bus to have seat belts, but a driver must wear one if fitted.
Good for the driver, what about the passengers?
They can ensure
Can ensure a pair of extra hazard lights are fitted higher up on the bus
Can ensure the use hazard lights as children load & unload
Can ensure the safety sign pictogram is removed when no children are being carried
Can ensure an illuminated sign to front & rear stating "CAUTION SCHOOL CHILDREN CROSSIING" or similar wording
Can ensure the school safety sign [ pictogram] is removed when not carrying pupils
Can ensure larger safety signs are used.
There is no limit to the size the school bus safety sign, it can be any size, certainly bigger than the pathetic signs currently in use, who chooses them?
Local Authorities can ask a transport supplier to provide full safety cover there by ensuring safety is the same in every part of the areas it serves.
Not one local authority would allow any worker employed by them, to have differing levels of safety.
Why then is it ok for your child to be treated any different to one of their workers.
Would a trade union allow that to happen to a member, of course not, so why is this allowed to happen to school children.
Parents can also ask their local authority, why none of these safety measures are considered when contracts are agreed.
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WE ALL HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY OF SAFETY
I found this article in a USA road magazine, i thought it also made much sense
Safety and Reflective Gear Are A Must & i know many parents do this
Certain clothing and gear can help children be spotted quicker, easier, and from further away.
Bright orange, yellow, and white clothes are helpful and make a child easier to see.
If your child stands at a bus stop in hours of poor light, during early morning or late in the day, wearing some sort of reflective gear will decrease the chance of an accident.
Many jackets, shoes, book bags, and hats can be found with reflective tape already included.
This reflective tape is extremely helpful to motorists.
What is interesting is that a vehicle’s headlights can pick up reflective clothing and gear from as far as 500 feet away.
NOW THAT 500 ft PLUS YOUR REACTION TIME COULD SAVE A LIFE OR INJURY ---- JUST A THOUGHT!
ROAD SAFETY, DRIVERS HAVE A RESPONSIBILTY AS WELL
It seems that in most areas Road Safety, including leaving a school bus has become synonymous with education of children.
It is supposed that all these years of road safety education has improved matters.
Taking another view you could say that although road safety accidents have improved in some areas, we still kill & injure far too many children.
You could also say there is a lack of education on the drivers part, after all most will be parents, so its in their interests.
In over 30 years there has been no real improvement for school transport, nothing has changed.
No new ideas, no new money
We still use a mix of transport, from public service buses, to private hire coaches.
None are in fact specific school transport.
In public transport its simply a service bus with a small sign showing front & back, in 2010, is this all we can manage, is this the sum total of a safety warning.
Some local authorities insist also on hazard lights being used as pupils load & unload, but only some.
Yet we have flashing lights on almost everything that does repairs anywhere, we have refuse Lorries with chevrons, warning lights sign BEWARE OPERATORS WORKING AT REAR.
In the meantime what has happened, in fact very little, although some councils are pursuing some ideas to improve safety.
Other wont even admit there is a safety problem with school transport , are they waiting until an accident happens.I can think of no other excuse.
The UK Government & Dept of Transport, along with the Scottish Government tell them they can insist measures are put in place with any transport provider.
However road traffic has increased greatly over these past years, so where is the answer?
It seems we continually force lifestyle changes on our children, don’t play here, don’t do that, don’t go here, don’t go there, watch crossing this & that, watch getting of the school bus, a continuous list of does & don’ts.
But what is the motorists part in this, the children have adapted, it seems drivers have not! At least going by accident statistics!
Accident rates over the years have dropped, they sadly needed to, but there are still far to many.
The rule seems to be that vehicles belong on the road, pedestrians don’t!
We constantly tell people in all walks of life, children’s perception of danger is not an adults.
It never will be, experts on Erin’s case explained that to us, her road safety skills were perfect for age group, as were Robyns & Alexander’s
The role of education given by [McGregor et al (1999) ] who suggest that children's accidents arise not because of a lack of knowledge, but because children make "mistakes".
As they argue, the answer to this cannot be better education; it can only be to work towards a more forgiving traffic environment
But at the moment this does not work, at least with school transport, drivers need to realise teenagers & children are simply that, they do not have all the skills of an adult.
School Travel Plans should offer far more than just education.
it is envisaged that there will be commitment to infrastructure improvements by the local authorities, and they do offer some limited scope for approaching road safety in a partnership manner.
Recent research that has a bearing on this.
The vast majority of the Road Safety Strategy represents an incremental approach to the education of children to make them "safer" road users, an approach that has been in use for decades
Again we remind you that Stats 19 [ the figures used to record accidents statistics ] is not accurate, & never has been, many figures do not add up, it is interesting to note, as far as we are aware, the data is recorded by the same agency against which performance targets are set for reducing serious accidents!
Some people might call that a conflict of interests!
ALL school children deserve a complete safety package.
Why should children in one area have greater safety measures than children in another, that is a ridiculous situation.Some areas allow bus/coach companies to decide if the sign should be removed & if hazard lights should be used.
This should never be the case, bus companies provide the transport, not the rules.
Our fight goes on because we stand for, not only ourselves, but for every parent who has lost a child , or had one injured.
But also very sadly those will happen again & again
THIS IS A FACT
We all know that children tend to be the most vulnerable to injuries and it is because they are exposed to dangers that are beyond their cognitive and sensory development.
Children, in general, are impulsive and have not developed crucial judgment skills to estimate how far away a car is and how quickly it is approaching. Children usually do not fully develop and master these skills until they are at least 10 years old.
