Parents in Oman have called for tougher measures against school bus drivers after a string of road crashes led to the deaths of multiple students and teachers in the last 22 months, national daily Times of Oman reported.
The latest incident on Thursday saw three children killed when the driver of the bus they were in lost control and hit a truck coming from the opposite direction in Saham in the country’s Batinah region.
One parent told Times of Oman that there were drivers with a lack of experience.
“There should be a minimum experience of at least five years for them to be eligible to be a school bus driver,” Oman-based parent Shamsa Al-Hosni, told Times of Oman.
“Most of these drivers are in their early 20s and they don’t have much experience,” Al-Hosni added.
The number of road collisions has declined by 33 percent, in 2021 compared to 2020, as Oman’s police continue to campaign for safer driving conditions, but parents say more still needs to be done, the report added.
But on April 4, three teachers died when a school bus veered off the road in Al Wusta.
Now parents have urged the Royal Oman Police (ROP) to introduce a minimum age requirement for school drivers.
They also called on schools to install cameras in buses to monitor the drivers’ behavior, according to the newspaper.
“We need cameras in the bus to monitor drivers,” Salim Al-Jashmi was quoted as saying.
“My son says their driver sometimes is on his mobile phone while he is driving the bus. If there are cameras on board, the drivers will be caught by providing evidence,” Al-Jashmi added.
