Parents, Students Endangered At School Drop Off

Hyderabad:A software employee died after being hit by a water tanker in Manikonda on Tuesday. The incident occurred moments after she had dropped her children at a school pick-up point and was returning home, possibly in a rush. The case adds to a string of fatal road accidents involving schoolchildren and parents, highlighting an often-overlooked risk: accidents during school drop-offs and pick-ups.

Recently, the city has seen several tragic incidents. A six-year-old boy died while his mother was dropping him at school on a two-wheeler in Dundigal. Earlier this week, a father and daughter were killed in a road accident in Shamshabad while he was dropping her at college.

Parents and experts attribute the trend to the absence of designated safety zones around schools, roads choked by autos and wrongly parked vehicles, and a lack of accountability from schools in ensuring safety for children using school buses. Traffic police and experts also cite the morning rush and parents flouting traffic rules.

Parents say safety concerns and rigid bus timings deter them from using school transport or public transit.

Kavitha Sharma, a Miyapur resident and mother of a six-year-old, said, “We tried school transport, but the timings are too rigid. My daughter is in Class 1 and gets cranky if we wake her too early, so we end up dropping her ourselves. We don’t remember the last time we had a slow, peaceful morning, but we manage.”

“Most of us are also rushing to work. So we park in a hurry, sometimes double-park, just to drop them and leave. We know it’s not ideal, but schools don’t have proper drop zones either,” said Lakshmi R., a resident of Kondapur.

Rakesh Sharma, a single father from Abids, raised a safety concern: “There’s no one at home after 3 pm to receive my daughter if she comes by van. I pick her up myself, even if it means squeezing into narrow lanes packed with honking vehicles. I’ve seen many school bus drivers flout rules and get into accidents. I don’t mind the rush, but I want to feel secure when I’m away from her.”

City Traffic DCP Rahul Hegde said, “We are coordinating with schools to ensure the safety of children, including during boarding and alighting from school buses. We also appeal to parents not to flout safety rules: wear helmets and never take wrong routes just to be on time.”

Road safety expert and Safe Tortoise founder Kiran Goli said a lack of awareness and enforcement of road rules, coupled with high transport fees at many schools, contributes to the problem. “The most serious hazard is riding or driving too close to heavy vehicles. How do you know a heavy vehicle is approaching? Through rear-view mirrors, which neither riders nor enforcement sufficiently prioritise. There are penalties for wrong-side driving and not wearing helmets, but little enforcement for improper or missing rear-view mirrors, especially on two-wheelers.”

Kiran also flagged accountability and empathy gaps on the part of schools. “Some schools charge over ₹20,000 just for transport. Not everyone can afford it. Many schools still don’t properly verify drivers before hiring, raising concerns about children’s safety.”

Recent accidents near schools or during drop-offs/pick-ups:

· July 30, 2025: A 34-year-old woman died when a water tanker rammed her two-wheeler around 8.45 am, just after she had dropped her children at a school bus pick-up point near Darga X Roads, Manikonda.

· June 28, 2025: A six-year-old Class 1 student, riding pillion with his mother near Pallavi School junction, was run over by a rashly driven tipper lorry after he fell from the scooter.

· February 6, 2025: A four-year-old LKG student was run over by a private school van immediately after alighting; the driver failed to notice the child behind the vehicle.

· August 31, 2024: A Class 6 girl riding pillion with her mother was killed when their scooter collided with a truck near Habsiguda; the crash was caught on CCTV.

· August 3, 2023: A Class 2 student died after a private school bus struck the bike she was riding on with her father near Reddy’s Labs, Bachupally; she fell under the rear wheels.

· November 2023: A three-year-old boy was run over and killed by a school bus while returning home after dropping his elder sister at school in Hayathnagar.