Wheel Well NPO calls for national school buses to transport students

Recent scholar transport crashes have once again highlighted the dangers pupils face on their daily commutes.

Twenty pupils were recently injured when a Toyota Quantum scholar transport minibus overturned near West Park Cemetery in Randburg.

At least 20 were also injured in a separate incident in KwaZulu-Natal, when a minibus taxi plunged off a bridge.

Wheel Well, a child road safety organisation, is now calling for urgent reforms to the school transport system, including safer buses, structured routes and national regulation.

The non-profit organisation is also working with schools to provide safety education sessions, car seat inspections, and outreach to parents to make children safer on the roads.

“Most child road deaths are preventable,” said PeggieMars, founder of Wheel Well.

Mars said school transport system need change and an introduction of a national school transport policy.

She argued that schools should use actual school buses, not minibuses, to transport students as this would be significantly safer.

Large buses take less impact in a crash, they have a lower centre of gravity and are therefore less likely to tip over, and children sit higher on them so they are above the potential crash impact.

“We need proper bus infrastructure along safe routes, for our children to get to school safely.”

To listen to Wheel Well Founder Peggie Mars in conversation with Clarence Ford on CapeTalk’s Views and News, click the audio player for more.