Motorists ignoring stop signs on school buses to be penalised

• Image Credit: Abdel-Krim Kallouche/Gulf News
• Students getting down from a school bus in Karama in Dubai are escorted to safety to the other side.

Dubai: Motorists ignoring stop signs of school buses on roads will be penalised, a senior Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official said on the sidelines of the first School Transportation Conference that opened in Dubai on Sunday.

The decision is part of a series of initiatives that RTA is unrolling to improve safety of children on roads.

“Our idea is to give our children the best in terms of safety and facilities. There should be no compromise whatsoever when it comes to their progress under a safe and secure atmosphere,” said Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency, who gave the welcome address at the conference.

The stop arms are on the sides of school buses and whenever the bus stops to drop a pupil, the stop arm automatically opens, indicating to traffic on the road to wait until the child is safely out of the way.