Before my three-year-old started school last October, I intended to do both school runs within three hours of each other. I tried for the first month. But as a working mum, the toing and froing proved totally impractical and I had to resort to school transport, if only one-way.
I have had a few misgivings about the transport since. There is a supervisor who sits with the children in the back, but no seatbelts for the back seats.
Most of them have nothing to hold on to in the event of sudden braking, or, heaven forbid, a jolt, bump or crash. The supervisor can't really do much except ensure that children are seated properly. Knowing the risks, parents put up with a scenario most would never allow in their own cars.
In an ideal world, every child would wear a seat belt while using school transport. But even though an EU directive on seat belt use in school transport came into force on May 9, many schoolchildren will not buckle up to or from school.
Apparently, minivans which do not have seatbelt anchorages, especially pre-1997 vehicles, are not legally bound to install them. And larger buses are exempt. The Minibus Co-operative also has an issue with seating capacity being reduced on vehicles carrying smaller children.
The co-operative chairman assures me that minibuses have a very good track record, citing not a single fatality in his 26 years in the business and lower insurance premiums this year as no claims have been made.
He'll forgive me for having the impression that he is a little more pre-occupied with the bottom line and defending the legal exemptions his sector is sheltering under, rather than increasing safety on board.
I didn't tell him, but I'd be prepared to pay extra for a safer service, and he knows most parents would too.
The cargo those drivers are transporting is so precious, it doesn't bear thinking about.
I have had a few misgivings about the transport since. There is a supervisor who sits with the children in the back, but no seatbelts for the back seats.
Most of them have nothing to hold on to in the event of sudden braking, or, heaven forbid, a jolt, bump or crash. The supervisor can't really do much except ensure that children are seated properly. Knowing the risks, parents put up with a scenario most would never allow in their own cars.
In an ideal world, every child would wear a seat belt while using school transport. But even though an EU directive on seat belt use in school transport came into force on May 9, many schoolchildren will not buckle up to or from school.
Apparently, minivans which do not have seatbelt anchorages, especially pre-1997 vehicles, are not legally bound to install them. And larger buses are exempt. The Minibus Co-operative also has an issue with seating capacity being reduced on vehicles carrying smaller children.
The co-operative chairman assures me that minibuses have a very good track record, citing not a single fatality in his 26 years in the business and lower insurance premiums this year as no claims have been made.
He'll forgive me for having the impression that he is a little more pre-occupied with the bottom line and defending the legal exemptions his sector is sheltering under, rather than increasing safety on board.
I didn't tell him, but I'd be prepared to pay extra for a safer service, and he knows most parents would too.
The cargo those drivers are transporting is so precious, it doesn't bear thinking about.