A typical Alpine School District School bus (Utah). An Errant Knight [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Most of the school buses in India and across the world are mostly painted in yellow colors. Apparently, there are solid scientific reasons behind the usages. According to www.colormatters.com, a website dealing with everything colors, yellow (and the yellow family of colors) gets the attention faster than any other color. Visibility “People notice yellow objects first.” Even when people are looking straight ahead, they can see a yellow object that is not in front of them "in the corners" of their eyes much sooner than any other color, even red, it said. Scientists describe this as “Lateral peripheral vision for detecting yellows is 1.24 times greater than for red,” the website noted. Many experts also point out those colors such as yellow or greenish-yellow are more visible to the human eye under dimmer conditions compared to red, it added. In traffic If there’s fog or any kind of bad weather, drivers will still be able to see yellow cars and any moving vehicle fairly well. In other words, the color is more distinctive than others. In this regard, not only are school buses yellow, but also many earth-moving, road-building and other outdoor machines are yellow for the visibility factor. A bit of history In United States, a Reader Digest article on the subject informed that back in April 1939, a Columbia University Teachers College professor Frank Cyr took a tour of ten states to gauge the extent of school transportation issues. He found proved that student transportation was in a sorry state and one of the huge variations in school transportation that he saw? Bus color. Seeing a need to fix this system, Cyr organized a conference and the matter was settled quickly. Yellow, or “National School Bus Glossy Yellow,” as it is officially called by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, was chosen for its high visibility. For this he was dubbed the “father of the yellow school bus.” SC Direction for School Bus In India, the Supreme Court of India has issued several guidelines for School buses. Some of the directives are:• "School Bus" must be written on the back and front of the Bus. • If it is a hired bus, "On School Duty" should be clearly indicated • Bus must have a First-Aid-Box. • The windows of Bus must be fitted with horizontal grills. • There must be a Fire Extinguisher in the Bus. • School Name and Telephone No. must be written on the Bus. • The doors of the Bus should be fitted with reliable locks. • There must be an Attendant from the School in the Bus. • Any parent/guardian or a teacher may also travel to ensure these safety norms. • School cabs should be fit with speed governors with maximum speed limit of 40 kph. • If age of school children is below 12 years, the number of children carried shall not exceed • 1½ times the permitted seating capacity. • Children above 12 years shall be treated as one person. • The driver of a school cab must have valid licence to drive LMV-Transport Vehicles for a period of at least four years and compulsorily wear a light blue shirt, light blue trousers and black shoes. The Driver’s name ID must be displayed on the shirt.
(Morung Express News)
