Board blames overcrowding

A departmental inquiry launched after a school girl fell from a van on the Regional Road on October 9 has found that the vehicle was carrying 28 students when it only had seats for 12.

The girl, Daliborka Vrhovac, 14, was seriously injured when she fell out of the rear door of the vehicle and was hit by another van. She told the board of inquiry in hospital that she still did not recall the incident or anything else which had happened that day.

The board of inquiry in a report tabled in parliament yesterday said it had unanimously established that:

¤ The Unscheduled Bus Service (UBS) as the main contractor, and its member, Zarb Coaches, had violated various contract conditions;

¤ The tail lifter van used on that day was not a coach which in terms of the contract should have been used for the trip. Although Emmanuel Zarb of Zarb Coaches had said that the tail lifter van was used because the coach was out of order, no conclusive evidence had been given to this effect.

¤ The tail lifter van had been used several times before, but whereas in the past, two vans were used to accommodate all the students, the tail lifter van was the only van provided on this occasion.

¤ The driver allowed 28 students on board when the van could only take 12 seated persons.

¤ The driver never asked any of the students to disembark because the van was overcrowded. Nor did he ask the school authorities to order the students to disembark because of serious lack of space.

¤ Although the driver was not supposed to allow standing students, he had still allowed on board a number of students who did not have a seat, without consideration for their health and safety.

¤ Students had to stand in a very small and inadequate space along with their bags and could not hold on to fixed points provided for the purpose in the van.

¤ During the trip, the standing students started swinging from one side to another and falling over each other. Although they started calling out to the driver, he took no action to stop this serious abuse of their health and safety.

¤ Since there were a number of students falling over each other in a small space, it was not difficult for the rear door to open, even accidentally, even if it was locked from the outside.

¤ The driver was seen speaking on his mobile phone during the trip shortly before noticing, after shouting by the students, that the rear doors had burst open and a girl had fallen out.

¤ The driver did not stop the vehicle immediately.

¤ The Unscheduled Bus Service should shoulder responsibility and answer for what had happened. The garage and the driver should answer for the consequences.

In its recommendations, the board said that the contractor should inform whoever performed school trips about the contract conditions laid down by the Education Division and the transport associations of state schools.

All drivers should be well aware of their responsibilities, particularly that students should be secure at all times, that there should be no risks to the students' health and safety; that the number of students could not exceed the number agreed with the division and the associations or transport regulations; that students should be comfortable and should not be standing, and that the vehicle should be appropriate for the carriage of students.

When, owing to serious and unexpected circumstances, a contractor had to use a different vehicle, he should offer a vehicle which was comparable and not inferior to the contracted vehicle.

Drivers should drive carefully and should be trained in dealing with students.

School drivers should be mature, have a clean record and act responsibly and calmly even in difficult circumstances.

Students should be aware of the conditions governing school transport and there should be an efficient way how they could complain to the school authorities.

School authorities should refer their complaints to the officers in charge of school transport at the Education Division as soon as possible, in writing when the complaints were serious. There should also be frequent inspections of school transport by the authorities.

The board said drivers needed to be well aware that they had to avoid any risk or danger to the students and no irresponsible act could be tolerated, under any circumstances. The board was composed of Paul A. Attard, chairman, Sarah Sammut and Stephen Zammit, members.

A magisterial inquiry into criminal responsibilities in this case is also being carried out.

The report was tabled by Education Minister Louis Galea in reply to a parliamentary question by Mr Evarist Bartolo (MLP).