School bus with damaged windshield raises safety concerns

Trichy: The regional transport office initiated an inquiry after a private school bus was spotted plying with a faulty windshield in the city on Monday. The issue has raised safety concerns among the public and activists about the vehicles operated by educational institutions.
On Monday morning, a school bus belonging to a private school near Samayapuram was seen picking up students from the No.1 tollgate junction in the suburbs of Trichy. The bus did not have glass panes in the rear windshield. Instead, it was covered with sheets of cardboard boxes that were tied together with ropes.
“School buses should be periodically inspected. Damaged vehicles should not be allowed to ply on roads, that too with students on board,” P Aiyarappan, district road safety council member, said. Activists also opined that operating buses under unsafe conditions may lead to school children fall from the moving bus, resulting in fatal injuries.
“A motor vehicle inspector has been directed to conduct an inquiry into the incident,” a senior official at the Trichy RTO said. A month ago, the RTO department ahead of reopening of schools conducted a synchronised safety inspection of 663 vehicles used by private schools across the district.