There are few more emotive subjects than the safety of children, and for parents school transport gives cause for concern. On too many occasions, fatal accidents have proved safety standards for school buses in rural China are too lax.

In the latest tragedy, 18 kindergarten kids and two adults were killed on Wednesday, when a minibus smashed head-on into a truck loaded with coal in Gansu province, Northwest China.

The bus, with just nine seats, was crammed with 64 people, which obviously contributed to the number of fatalities and the seriousness of the injuries suffered by some of the children.

Forty-four of those on board, mostly children, were hospitalized and 10 of them are seriously injured.

Such accidents are an unimaginable heartache for the children, their families and the country.

School bus safety is a pressing issue, and it is up to the government to design a reasonably safe bus system for schools.

Most of the school buses run by kindergartens and primary schools in rural areas are poorly maintained and overcrowded.

In response to the tragedy in Gansu, the Ministry of Education has sent a task force to investigate. The ministry has asked all the education departments, kindergartens and primary schools to examine the safety of school buses.

This effort shouldn't be temporary. It is time we made sure our school buses and other vehicles that carry students are safe.

Wednesday's crash was another black mark for the country's school bus safety record. The government shouldn't wait for more fatal crashes to take whatever steps are needed to ensure that the nation's children are as safe as they can be.

It is reported that the Chinese government's traffic security officials visited the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles in the United States this month to learn about the state's school bus safety program and discuss student transportation safety issues.

Clearly the government is aware that school bus safety is an issue, and it is endeavoring to design a reasonably safe bus system for schools.

But if the rules need to be tightened or new safeguards need to be put in place, the measures can't be introduced soon enough.

Proud of her country's school bus safety, Canada's former transportation minister, Kathleen Wynne, said traveling on a school bus in her country is 16 times safer than traveling in a car.

When will our officials be able to make a similar claim?

(China Daily 11/18/2011 page8)