This year, after my children began taking the school bus for the first time, I began to monitor the driving habits of private school minibus drivers. School buses have 19 seats, but legally can hold 27 children, depending on their height. Last year on December 6, 10 kindergarten students were hurt in a slow crash. Did they all have seat belts? Last term, I observed one school minibus being driven at 115km/h in a 100km/h zone, another being driven at 105km/h in an 80km/hour zone, and many going at 75km/h in a 50km/h zone. Speeding was common. Unlike green and red public light buses, private school buses are not legally required to fit electronic data recording devices, speed limiters, or speed display monitors. While public light buses are legally prevented from driving faster than 80km/h regardless of the speed limit of the section of road, there are no additional speed restrictions for private school buses. Since 2005, new green and red minibuses are required have three-point seat belts installed, yet only lap belts are “encouraged” to be fitted in new school buses. Regulation 53(1) of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations also permits three children under the height of 1.3 metres to “count” as two. If all kindergarten children are under 1.3 metres tall, eight extra children can be squashed onto the bus. There is an astronomically greater risk of these children being injured. In addition, the Transport Department pamphlet , “School Transport Safety Rules” does not advise students to wear seat belts or drivers to take extra care when transporting children. Why traffic collisions in Hong Kong should be ringing alarm bells The Transport Department must repeal Regulation 53 (1) of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations, teach all school bus drivers to drive more carefully and permit only one student per seat with a proper seat belt. All new private school light buses must have the same safety devices that are installed in public light buses, while older school buses should be retrofitted with them. We cannot sit idly by hoping that our children are “safe enough”. The safety of our children must be a priority. The Transport Department must act to enhance the safety of school buses and our children while they are travelling to school. Neil Dunn, Kowloon Tong