Three-point seat belts a must for Abu Dhabi school buses, operators told

The distance between seats will be modified based on safety requirements, while all buses should be equipped with three-point seat belts, a tracking system, and internal and external cameras.

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ABU DHABI // Operators must equip school buses with three-point seat belts and drivers who return from a holiday outside the UAE must undergo a medical fitness test.

The new provisions form part of an updated school transport law raised to the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, according to Aletihad, The National's Arabic-language sister newspaper.

Decision 35 of 2012 identifies the roles and responsibilities of school transport personnel, operators, parents, drivers, and supervisors.

A committee comprising the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Abu Dhabi Police, Department of Transport and Municipal Affairs has been set up to implement the new regulations.

Other amendments include technical aspects such as mandatory fire extinguishers, emergency exits and breakable windows, said Ali Hassan Makki, head of the school transport committee.

The distance between seats will be modified based on safety requirements, while all buses should be equipped with three-point seat belts, a tracking system, and internal and external cameras.

Operators should comply with all safety requirements before they are registered. A team will conduct regular and random inspections.

Abu Dhabi Education Council will not approve any tuition fee increase unless the school has complied with all safety requirements.

The amendments are the latest in a series of safety measures largely driven by a bus crash last month involving two school buses and a public bus that left 47 people injured.

In February last year, tough rules came into force as a response to the death of a 3-year-old pupil of Al Worood Academy Private School who was locked on a school bus in October 2014.

A school transport regulations guidebook issued by the Department of Transport in 2013 spells out the responsibilities of all school transport operators, schools directly providing bus services and parents.

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