Dubai: Emirates Transport Media Dept.
Emirates Transport (ET) has launched a public campaign to raise awareness of traffic laws governing the use of the Stop sign in school buses.
Teams of ET employees handed out leaflets and gifts to motorists in a number of road intersections in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, in cooperation with police authorities in each emirate.
The campaign is part of ET’s annual Month of Occupational Health and Safety campaign, which aims to increase awareness of health and safety issues for employees and the general public.
On Wednesday, motorists were reminded of their obligations towards the safety of transported school students and, in particular, were urged to follow instructions to come to a complete stop when the ‘Stop’ sign is deployed as students prepare to cross the road before or after they board or disembark from a school bus.
Hanan Mohammed Saqer, executive director of Corporate Services at ET, said : “Emirates Transport is keen to ensure the safety of children and school students during their daily school trips to and from schools and will continuously pursue all means and measures that provide them with a safe environment inside and outside the bus.
“We call on all road users, especially car drivers, to cooperate with the various authorities and school transport providers in this regard and to follow the application of related traffic laws.”
As well as educating motorists on the traffic safety issues relating to their responsibilities around school buses, the campaign warned of a number of traffic violations stipulated by the law pertaining to the roles of both the school bus driver and other road users.
Violations will incur a fine of 500 dirhams and 6 black points for any bus driver who fails to correctly deploy the Stop sign, and a fine of 1,000 dirhams and 10 black points for drivers who fail to stop when they see the sign.
As the largest provider of school transport in the UAE, Emirates Transport transports 242,805 students, on a daily bases, to and from 714 government and private schools across the State. The process is carried out through 5,765 school buses and 5,641 drivers.