Carpool service must put children’s safety first

I refer to the report “Overwhelming response to new Uber-like service for schoolchildren” (Oct 17).

The idea behind Schoolber is a good one, as it will help schools to improve their traffic situation and allow the children to benefit from extra sleep.

For this service to work in the long term, I suggest sending parents who are drivers of other parents’ children for some form of training, such as that required of school bus drivers.

This is important, as such a service is not only about offering convenience but also about the parents’ ability to handle situations pertaining to accidents or vehicle breakdowns should they occur.

We are dealing with young children, mainly below 12 years of age, in the hands of strangers who offer the service. This might expose children to danger, which could be traumatic for them, and they may not be able to fend for themselves.

Some school buses have a bus attendant, an arrangement that is absent from Schoolber, which warrants concern, especially if the children are expected to cross the road or alight at locations with a high traffic volume. Safety may be compromised.

In schools, teachers would normally walk the children to the school’s bus bay and hand them over to the bus operators so that the school’s responsibilities are discharged properly at the end of the school day.

It is thereafter the operators’ responsibility to ensure safe passage home for the children. The school, as I remember when my children took the school bus, always highlighted the safety of the pupils.

How is Schoolber going to ensure or enforce this and be accountable to parents for their children’s safety? It is difficult to imagine teachers handing their wards over to strangers offering the service, unless there is proper documentation beforehand.

I understand that school bus operators would procure third-party insurance for their buses and passengers. How is Schoolber going to ensure that there is proper insurance, so that the children are covered?

The service reliability must be consistent with that of school buses, otherwise teachers would end up performing additional administrative co-ordination to ensure that their pupils are in school on time and depart for home safely.

I encourage Schoolber to work with the schools to ensure the same standards as those of school bus services and that the children’s safety is not compromised.