New traffic rules to be in place from Monday

The transport department got the go-ahead from the law department on Wednesday.

KARACHI:

A notification will be issued by the provincial transport department on Monday which will introduce and implement a new set of traffic rules for school vans, this includes making it mandatory for the vehicles to be yellow.

The department has been pushing for these laws to improve and regularise several of the roughly-built school vans that pick and drop students from their homes to schools.

An official from the transport department who did not wish to be named told The Express Tribune that they were facing pressure from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Sindh High Court and the chief minister of Sindh to regulate the school vans. “We have to do something to secure our children,” he said. “Otherwise they would have been left at the mercy of irresponsible drivers and the city’s traffic.” He added that many transporters had been misusing the law but after the new laws are in place, they will have no loopholes to do so.

The transport department was waiting for approval from the provincial law department which gave its consent on Wednesday. The notification will amend the Motor Vehicles Rules of 1969.

The department’s focal person, Yar Muhammad Mirjat, confirmed that the notification will be issued on Monday after which the rules will be implemented. “We have taken all the stakeholders on board,” he said. “The new rules were formed with the consent of representatives from private schools.”

The New Rules

Along with a new colour, the school vans will also have an emergency exit, fire extinguishers and a complaint book. Additionally, the driver of the vehicle will carry a vehicle fitness certificate, registration documents, route permit, insurance papers and driving licence. The vehicles will run one kind of fuel and no LPG cylinders will be placed inside the vehicle.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2014.