Recommendations to parents and guardians to hire a school van for their children

The Seremi of Transport and Telecommunications Alvaro Ormeño, the Prefect of Carabineros Lieutenant Colonel Mr. Leopoldo Cornejo, accompanied by other authorities, led a massive inspection of vehicles of the school transport groups and gave recommendations to parents and attorneys to hire these services,  few days that a large part of the students enter classes.

Verify the registration of the vehicle in the National School Transportation Registry, have the driver's identification card up-to-date and confirm compliance with safety regulations, are part of the recommendations given by the Seremi de Transportes Alvaro Ormeño, to the parents and proxies.

"Parents and guardians must have the necessary information to properly choose a school bus for their children. They are the first inspectors, that is why we call on you, to be attentive and to review each one of the characteristics of the service before contracting it, "Seremi Alvaro recommended.

The first examiners of this type of services must be the parents and guardians. That's why they should:

The vehicle must have its current and up-to-date documentation: RENASTRE registration certificate, technical revision, polluting emissions certificate, driving license and compulsory insurance.

The aforementioned documentation must be carried in the vehicle. In the case of the certificate of enrollment in the National Registry of School Transportation, this should inform the name or names of authorized drivers, as well as the identification of adult chaperones in case it is transferred to more than 5 children of pre-basic.

The school transport vehicle must have a safety belt if the year of manufacture is from 2007 onwards and it does not necessarily have to be yellow, since white and other colors are also allowed, depending on the gross weight of the vehicle.

It must be identified with a sign that says "School", which must be located on the roof of the vehicle, or on the lower right side of the rear window or windows and also on the bottom of one of the side windows of the vehicle, on both sides of this (depending on the gross vehicle weight).

In addition, you must have a strobe light on the back of the roof or a retro-reflective tape around the vehicle under the windows (depending on the gross vehicle weight).

The maximum capacity of children that can be transported must be indicated inside the vehicle and must not exceed what is indicated in the Technical Review Certificate.

All seats must be sitting facing forward.

The maximum age for vehicles is 16 years (In regions XV, I and XII is 18 years). In school transport vehicles that provide services to rural locations, the maximum age allowed is 18 or 22 years, depending on the weighing of the car.

The driver must possess and carry a professional license class A1 (old law 18.290) or class A3 (law 19.495 or law 19.710).

In a visible place, inside the vehicle, you must carry an identification card with a photograph and personal information of the driver.

Finally, the attorney can check that the driver and/or companion is not in the registry of persons disabled to work with children.

Since 2014, sanctions have been increased for school transport vehicles that are caught performing the service without authorization. Now they risk the withdrawal of circulation of the vehicle and fines ranging from 120 thousand pesos to 600 thousand pesos.

Child restraint chairs: Regarding the regulations that make the use of chairs mandatory for the transportation of children, the regulation states that this obligation is for light vehicles, so it does not fall under the regulations of school transport.