Dear Editor,

A survey shows that private school bus service operators do not follow proper safety procedures when dealing with young children. In mainland China, there was a school bus accident last year which caused heavy casualties. Therefore, I am writing to express my concerns and give possible suggestions to improve private school bus services.

There are many problems with private school bus services. In our life, it is not hard for us to find that many drivers talk on the phone or chat with the nanny who looks after the young children on the bus. These acts are very dangerous as drivers may not be able to focus when driving.

However, these are their normal practices. These improper behaviours will put all the passengers in danger.

Second, there is no vigilance paid to the children on the school bus. Sometimes we can observe that some children put their hands out of the windows when it is moving. It is really a dangerous action. It is understandable that children may not be aware of their improper behaviour. The driver and nanny should pay attention to the safety of the children on the bus and correct their misbehaviour.

I am worried that many people know that private school bus service operators do not follow proper safety procedures. What can we do to raise their awareness of safety procedures in the school bus? I will give some recommendations for improving the private school bus services.

First of all, a hotline can be set up for the public to report any improper procedures of school bus service operators. When people find that school buses do not follow proper safety procedure, they can call the hotline and report to the Bus Operators Associations of Hong Kong. This can act as a warning to them.

Second, strict penalties should be enforced for the misbehaving drivers. A mark deduction scheme should be adopted for those misbehaved drivers. Their driving license will be terminated when their marks are deducted to zero.

Finally, talks can be organized to the drivers and nannies to raise their awareness of safety procedure during driving. With proper knowledge about safety procedure when operating the school bus services, they would be able to spot all the possible dangers and try to avoid them.

All in all, it is a serious issue when private school bus service operators do not follow proper safety procedure when dealing with young children. I sincerely hope that the Bus Operators Association of Hong Kong can do something to alleviate this problem.

Yours faithfully,
Pang Oi Ying (6A) HHCKLA BUDDHIST CHING KOK SECONDARY SCHOOL