The main cause of the accident is 'driver's negligence'.
Bus driver Radhakrishna Magar and student Bipin Shrestha died when a bus belonging to Junkiri English Boarding School at Bhanjang, Dakshinkali-3, Kathmandu met with an accident on January 27. The bus No. BA1K 5664, which was going to Pharping to drop off students, fell into the Dallu river one and a half hundred meters below the road. 44 people were injured in the accident.
On the third day of the accident in the Dallu river, SS Academy Chabhil's bus met with an accident while returning from a forest feast at Shankharapur-5, Kattike, Kathmandu. Krisal Puri, Sushanka Dotel and Suresh Tamang died and 43 others were injured when the bus crashed due to brake failure.
In the last seven months alone, five school buses have been involved in accidents in Kathmandu Valley. According to the police, 7 people including 5 children, 1 teacher and 1 driver died in that accident. 100 children, 9 teachers, 6 drivers/co-drivers were injured. According to police data, there were 46 school bus accidents across the country from last July to January. Thirteen people including 13 students, 1 teacher and 9 drivers/co-drivers died in the accident. 174 students and 10 teachers were injured.
According to DIG Dinesh Acharya, spokesperson of Nepal Police, 14 school bus accidents occurred in Madhesh province, 8 in Sudurpaschim, 7 in Koshi, 5 in Lumbini, 4 in Karnali, 2 in Gandaki and 6 in Bagmati in these seven months. Out of the 6 school buses that crashed in Bagmati Province, 5 are from Kathmandu Valley. Acharya says that the main cause of school bus accidents is speeding and negligence of the driver. "There are many reports of accidents involving school buses taken on picnics or excursions," he said. Yes, drivers are tired after working elsewhere all day, we need a rule that schools should have their own bus - Keshav Puri, President, Nepal National Parents Association
What is in the school bus directory?
The government has issued the 'School Bus Directory 2074' to make the service of vehicles operated for the transportation of students safe, comfortable and reliable. In the guidelines, the outside color of the school bus should be yellow, 'School Bus' should be written in black in front and back of the bus so that it is clearly visible, and if the bus is rented, a banner with the name of the school and 'On School Duty' should be placed or a plate with 'School Bus' written on the front and back of the bus.
The directory also mentions that the name of the school should be written below the level of the windows on both sides so that the introduction of the school is revealed. The guidelines also set standards for emergency doors, window grills/glasses, first aid boxes, fire fighting equipment, seating conditions. It is said that if there are students below 12 years of age, children can be carried one and a half times the seat capacity of the bus, and if there are students above 12 years of age, they should only keep the same number of seats.
There is also a provision in the guidelines that school buses cannot be driven at a speed of more than 40 kilometers per hour. The responsibility of monitoring whether or not this instruction is followed has been assigned to the Department of Transportation or its subordinate offices or delegated bodies. But schools have been running buses without following most of the norms.
When the monitoring-regulation is lax, the school bus has more students than its capacity. There is also the problem of speeding the bus. According to the spokesperson of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Superintendent of Police Sanjay Bahadur Raut, when the vehicles were checked at various places in the valley on February 1, the drivers of five school buses did not have driving licenses. 5 school buses had more students than capacity. "The condition of 21 school buses was not good," Raut said, "On that day, 179 school bus drivers and co-drivers were sent to the school bus by mutual understanding." There is also a tendency to leave the school late and jump the bus at high speed in some school buses. "I think stopping the school bus and checking it will affect the morale of the students," said spokesperson Raut. "School buses are not monitored like other vehicles because if the school bus is stopped for a long time for checking the school bus, it is not monitored like other vehicles." "The school bus guidelines have provisions to allow the use of chartered buses to transport students," he said, "but it is risky to use a bus that carries passengers all day in the afternoon or evening to carry children." The drivers are tired after working elsewhere all day. He said that the design and seats of the rental buses are not suitable for children. He also said that the school used to put small children in the van and make them sit in the opposite seat. Students are sensitive. It is not possible to travel like this," he said. "There needs to be a rule that the school should have its own bus. Accidents are reduced even if the school stops hiring new and young drivers with acquaintances and less money.'
