After the death of a schoolgirl in Bauska region, proposals are made to change the rules for buses with children 0 10

A tragic traffic accident that occurred in the Bauska region in spring has once again raised the issue of children's safety on the roads and the rules for transporting schoolchildren, writes LETA, citing Latvijas Avīze.

On the evening of May 8, in the Islīce parish, a car fatally struck a girl born in 2012, who began to cross the roadway after getting off the bus. It is reported that the bus was returning from a school excursion and had stopped on the roadside to drop off two students from Islīce Primary School. A warning sign "Children's Group" was placed on the vehicle.

According to eyewitnesses, the bus driver reminded the children of the need to be cautious and not to run onto the road. However, the tragedy could not be avoided.

After the incident, the police initiated a criminal process and continues to investigate all the circumstances of what happened.

The death of the schoolgirl has prompted a public initiative on the ManaBalss.lv portal. Its author, Anete Aizbalte, proposes to change the existing rules and implement a safety system in Latvia that is used in several other countries.

The essence of the proposal is that a bus transporting children should become a kind of "safety zone" during boarding and alighting, where other vehicles are required to come to a complete stop.

According to the initiative's author, the current system does not provide sufficient protection. She notes that the requirement to reduce speed near buses with children is often ignored in practice, and many vehicles continue to pass by at high speeds.

What is important to know: currently, Latvian rules require drivers to exercise special caution near buses transporting children; however, there is no mandatory complete stop of traffic in such situations.

At the same time, experts point out that implementing such an initiative may be more complicated than it seems at first glance. Oscar Irbitis, an expert from the Road Traffic Safety Directorate, notes that Latvia lacks a unified school transportation system. Children are transported by both specialized school buses and regular municipal or rented vehicles. In his opinion, this could become one of the main problems when introducing new requirements.

However, the expert emphasizes that regardless of the type of bus, drivers must always be as attentive as possible near stopped vehicles, especially if there is a possibility that children are getting out of them. He urges significantly reducing speed, maintaining a safe distance, and, if necessary, coming to a complete stop, even if the rules do not explicitly require it.

The tragedy in the Bauska region has once again reminded us that a few seconds of inattention on the road can have irreversible consequences, and the issue of children's safety remains one of the most sensitive topics in road traffic.