School Vans - how safe?

The problem is not in black and white. Van drivers cannot be simply given a Whiff of Grapeshot. You cannot castigate every van driver. There should be a set of road rules for everyone to follow on the road and the pundits should come down hard on those who disregard them.

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

These days a sensitive topic is on almost everyone’s lips. And that is : Is going in a school van safe? This is a particularly sensitive issue for van drivers who earn their bread and butter by providing transport to children from home to school and back. This week Punch went out on to the streets to interview van drivers and went into the homes of parents, teachers and children to find out what they think about this burning issue that has caused much agitation.

Waving parents good bye!

“If you are a school van driver you must act with discipline and maintain a code of conduct when providing transport to children. They must act with a degree of control without racing other vans. We have been driving for years and have not met with any crashes. No one has been inconvenienced by us,” said Tissa Dissanayake, 35, a van driver

“ I can only elaborate on what Dissanayake has just said. We have been doing this for 10- 15 years and we take the utmost precaution when transporting children. It is disheartening to know that we encounter many difficulties with the government. Our source of family income is school transport. That is how we put the food on the table for our family and live. That is our sole income. We experience unfair treatment from the government. We have to maintain our vehicles. We do all of this through our income. School transport is unlike other forms of transport since it involves children. There is that added responsibility. We badly need some relief from the government,” said Sudara, another van driver.

“Now every accident is not by a school van is it? Take trains for example, how many accidents are caused by trains? We even go out of the way sometimes when transporting children. And we do it responsibly. Now once in a while an accident occurs but this does not mean that every van driver should be held responsible.

Parents love us and place their trust in us. They have faith in us when putting the children under our care. I feel that if there is a new driver who has not much experience, an accident could happen, that I admit,” said Indratilleke, 58 who is also involved in school van service.

Vijaya who considers himself a jack of all trades aired his views saying that this is all malicious lies. “There are parents who stand outside children’s schools. They point their fingers at teachers, principals and van drivers and look for faults. Their children do not go in vans but they slander van drivers. They also have an issue with those who use vans for transporting their children. This has been there for a long time.”

Minaka Wijeweera who is a parent and a teacher, told us that it is impossible to find hundred percent perfect van drivers. “But all in all, our van driver is good. I have been using him for the last one and a half years. He is helpful to children, however if children do not come on time, he leaves them behind. That creates a problem. His charges are also on the high side.

Chirath Wijeweera, 12 years old, felt that his driver is a little bit fast. The other problem is that if children do not show up on time, he leaves them behind. “When we alert him on the missing children, he asks us to go and find them, but he stays in his drivers seat. I have a friend whose van met with an accident on Parliament road, and it was badly damaged. There is no assurance that you will find a better van by changing what you have at present. So I do not have any plans of changing my van.”

Nadeeka Jayawardane, a mother, says that she is of course happy with her van driver. “He is in his mid 50’s and quite responsible. I heard that he has met with some minor accidents but my son tells me that it was not his fault, others have come from behind and hit the van. My son goes on time and the van does not get delayed. The only problem is they charge very high fees.”

Minidu Jayawardane 12 years old, says he is happy with his driver. He is always on time and very helpful. He drives fast when there are not many vehicles on the road, but we are okay with it. My friends have some bad stories about their van drivers, but fortunately we are lucky to have this driver.”

The problem is not in black and white. Van drivers cannot be simply given a Whiff of Grapeshot. You cannot castigate every van driver. There should be a set of road rules for everyone to follow on the road and the pundits should come down hard on those who disregard them.