School Transport Services has always advocated and pursued the promotion of road safety management through unique educational campaigns. Standing firm in the belief that Safety Does Not Happen By Accident and that stringent safety standards can be achieved only when awareness campaigns are regularly deployed, STS designed the Smart Safety Bus initiative to edutain young minds. This new approach of educating while entertaining has proven to be a more engaging experience than traditional means of instruction.
The Smart Safety Bus is an age appropriate engagement platform to teach and edutain children from nursery through secondary schools. This is done in both Arabic and English. The purpose-built Smart Safety Bus offers a mix of 3D simulation games, puzzles, multiple choice questions that make learning easy and fun.
Students learn the importance of traffic safety principles and how to identify potential hazards through educational videos via the Interactive Wall feature of the bus. Their learning is assessed by way of Q&A’s and quizzes. Children can enjoy a simulated driving experience with the Super Driver game or a practical experience of buckling up for safety, with the Seat Belt game.
The outdoor Danger-Zone Awareness Mat highlights the hazardous spots in and around the bus that automatically sound off alarms. All smart devices and screens are powered by solar energy, making it a sustainable vehicle.
In effort to ensure continued awareness and learning towards road safety, the programme appoints a Little Safety Ambassador from the group. The ambassador receives a safety badge and certificate, making them responsible for advocating road and transport safety to their peers, teachers and parents. The success of the Smart Safety Bus programme is reflected in the students taking a safety pledge after the tour, that prompts them to the importance of road safety management.
Being a recipient of the coveted Innovation Product Award by GESS Education Awards has strengthened our resolve to expand the initiative to all corners of the country.
Set in motion in early 2019, it is astonishing how far this initiative has come along in just one year. So far we have achieved,
6 exhibition visits
47 school visits
22,463 safety pledges have been signed
1,129 Little Safety Ambassadors have been appointed
Going forward, plans are underway to link students’ participation and their takeaways from the programme to their school’s credits system and house points. This is being done to encourage them to focus on traffic safety as an ongoing responsibility.
To book a ride a ride on the Smart Safety Bus click here.