High Court Enforces Strict Safety Guidelines for School Buses in Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has mandated school buses to be equipped with GPS and CCTV and imposed driver regulations to improve safety. These directives came after a fatal 2018 accident. Guidelines include restrictions on bus age and driver offenses, pending state amendments to vehicle rules.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has stepped up safety measures for school transportation by imposing mandatory requirements for all school buses in the state. These vehicles must now be equipped with both GPS systems and CCTV cameras, enabling real-time tracking by parents via mobile phones.

In response to a fatal accident in 2018 that claimed the lives of four children, the court has also forbidden the use of buses older than 12 years and disallowed employing drivers with certain traffic offense records. The Indore bench outlined these measures while addressing a Public Interest Litigation related to the incident.

Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi emphasized the urgent need for policy implementation until the Madhya Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules receive official amendments. The guidelines aim to bolster safety for school buses used by both private and government educational bodies.

(With inputs from agencies.)