These school buses will help ensure children’s safety in Oman

Muscat: Making sure Oman’s schoolchildren are safe should be the most important feature of any school bus, says the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Oman.
The German vehicle company are soon to roll out their new line of school buses across the country, featuring cutting-edge safety on board the OF917 RFC bus.
“The safety of a child was the most important thing we took into consideration when we set about designing this new school bus,” said Lawrence Good, CEO for Mercedes-Benz Oman.
“The new buses have the latest in safety features designed to protect these children.
“The most notable among them would be our CCTV and rear-view camera systems,” he added.
“These cameras give the driver the ability to see not only what is going on outside at the back of the bus-including pedestrians, children and other obstructions, but also the ability to see inside the cabin to keep a watchful eye on the children.
“This feature enables both the driver and any teaching staff on board, the ability to make sure children remain seated and belted during journeys and allows an extra layer of security in terms of making sure all children leave the bus at the end of travel,” said Good.
Other key features include three-point seat belts to reduce the likelihood of injury during an accident, an anti-lock brake system (ABS) to provide stability during turns, anti-skid flooring to avoid injuries due to slipping, fire resistant upholstery to stem the spread of flames in the event of a fire, and emergency exit doors.
“Mercedes Benz have always done whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our passengers, whether it is a small car, or one of our big buses,” said Good.
“We’ve always been ahead of the curve when it comes to safety standards for our vehicles and that has always been a very integral part of who we are. The automatic stop arm and flashing roof markers help in reminding passing vehicles about the children boarding the bus.
“The bus also contains a fire suppression system mounted in the engine compartment, which is automatically actuated to prevent fire,” he added. “Two sets of fire extinguishers and medicine kits are also provided on board. I know this might sound a bit strange, but all of our windows are also breakable in case of an emergency. It’s not like you can shatter them by simply throwing a stone at them, but they do require some effort to break.”
Made in Mercedes-Benz’s new factory in India, final inspections of the OF917 RFC bus will be conducted in November later this year, before being introduced to schools in the country by the first quarter of 2018.
Good insists, though, that in addition to having quality buses, efforts will also be taken to ensure the drivers in these buses are also of the same standard.
“We are currently in talks with the ministries to ensure there is a proper programme in place to train the people who will be driving these buses,” explained Good. “This is not just an arrangement we will have at present, but one that will be in place in the future as well, whenever there are new drivers required for these buses.
“These buses will be available at a very competitive rate to schools in Oman,” he added. “The safety standards in this bus are the ones that have always been held by Daimler, and that is what has made us such a reputable company that people can trust. There’s something about going to school in a Mercedes Benz bus that the children are going to get really excited and tell their friends about, so I think we’re all looking forward to seeing this bus in Oman.”