I READ with interest the story (the Press and Journal, May 23) on school bus signs and the fact that they shouldn't be permanently on display. While in principle I would agree with that, there are obvious problems in applying this.

When the “new style” signs were introduced back in 1994, they replaced a sign that had always been fixed to the rear of vehicles used to convey school pupils. The new signs came with holes drilled in the four corners and were meant to be fixed to the windows of the vehicle by means of suction pads. The larger of the two signs on the rear, the smaller in the windscreen.

It was a far better system than the previous one, except for the fact that a large number of these signs went missing. Pupils saw them as trophies and they were stolen from the vehicles. The companies involved in transporting pupils experienced very little success in stemming this problem because of the attitude of some schools towards their responsibilities for the pupils once they had left the school grounds.

Within the conditions of contract, Aberdeenshire Council had placed the burden on the operator to ensure that the signs were displayed when conveying the pupils. Failure to do this could lead to the loss of the contract. With the regulations not totally opposing the permanent fixing of these signs, most companies and, indeed, the council started to fix them to the vehicles.

The biggest drawback of this is the more we see the signs, the less notice we take of them. This, in turn, gives rise to people just taking school buses for granted, especially in this area where there are so many of them.

The regulations cover a number of issues: buses and coaches that are used for journeys to and from school are required to display distinctive retro-reflective yellow school bus signs fitted to the front and rear of the bus. These signs must be plainly visible to road users ahead of, and behind, the bus.

Vehicles displaying school bus signs are also permitted to use hazard warning lights when the vehicle is stationary and children are boarding or alighting.

The Scottish Government has also issued an update to its School Transport Guidance Circular.

There is no statutory requirement to remove the school bus signs when the vehicles are not being used to transport children, or to use hazard-warning lights when the vehicle is stationary and children are boarding or alighting.

However, Scottish ministers invite education authorities to stipulate in their contracts that the signs should be displayed only when children are being transported and that hazard-warning lights should be used when children are getting on or off vehicles.

They have also issued the following:

Scottish Executive Education Department Circular No. 7/2003 sets out the statutory duties of education authorities, and makes clear that the general duty to take reasonable care for the safety of pupils when under their charge includes travel on school transport arranged by them.

This should therefore mean that ALL school transport is covered. Any problems while transporting pupils to or from school should be a matter of discipline within the school. Unfortunately, in a large number of cases, this is not how it works. Most senior schools want no responsibility for pupils once they are on the transport.

Maybe the answer would be for the schools to face penalties for failure, just as transport operators do.

There are a number of potential improvements being looked at. They include:

Innovative new technology which aims to improve the safety of children boarding school buses to be trialled in the north-east of Scotland.

The See-Me Bus Stop technology which warns drivers to exercise extreme caution when school buses are in operation. This has proved to be a success in Sweden.

These are being evaluated by Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils to test the technology.

All in all, there are a number of possibilities, but these must be looked at and evaluated by all concerned, from the minister to the bus driver.

Above all else, we have to get the involvement and acceptance of the pupils and parents: after all, they are the ones who will make this work.

Only when we get consensus from all involved will we be able to say we have the safest possible school transport system.