国内英语新闻:School bus safety draft regulation released

BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A draft regulation on school bus safety management was made public Sunday by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, with the public invited to submit comments on it.

The draft stipulates that local governments above the county level should take "overall responsibility" in school bus safety, and authorities of education, public security, transportation and product quality supervision should also properly perform their respective duties.

The government will establish and improve a system of mandatory technical standards for the quality of vehicles used as school buses, the draft stated.

Primary school students queue up to get on the school bus to go home after school in Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 21, 2011. Local government of Deqing County has invested 20 million yuan (3.14 million U.S. dollars) to order 79 school buses, which are specially designed for children with smaller seats and seat belts as well as bright yellow color to have better warning function. Among the 79 buses, 14 ones have truck-style front ends, and this appearance like a long nose can effectively reduce the impact force and better protect children's safety. Drivers of such kind of school buses are required not to exceed 60 kilometers per hour. Nearly 6,000 children from 25 primary schools have benefited from the operation of this kind of school bus in Deqing County.

China issued a set of technical standards for school buses for primary school students last year, and the drafting of another standard for buses for the kindergartners is also underway.

According to the draft, the government will adopt a license system for school bus operation.

Vehicles that are up to school bus standards and with a unified appearance will be first in line to obtain approval from education authorities, and the draft also requires buses to register at the traffic administrative agencies before they can be used as school buses.

Instead of compulsory annual safety checks, the draft would require school bus owners to renew their safety qualifications every six months.

Drivers should also check the safety condition of the buses before each commute, the draft said.

The draft asks schools and the school bus service providers to intensify safety management and maintenance and assign special staff on buses to look after students on board.