Improving child safety to and from school has become a top issue for China’s central government after a string of deadly accidents this year. A series of drafts on school bus safety standards began receiving public feedback on Tuesday to further improvement and keep children safe.

This is the first time that preschool buses have been included in national standards, car seat safety standards for primary school buses will be extended to all school buses carrying teenagers.

The latest drafts echoed Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao’s promise to improve school bus services last month, following tragedies across the country this year.

Overloaded buses and unqualified drivers are not uncommon reasons for these kinds of accidents.

Five children died when a van crashed into a deep valley. The 8-seat van was carrying 12 students and two adults.

15 children died and 8 were injured when their school bus rolled into a ditch trying to avoid a pedicab. An unqualified driver and poor road design were to blame for the deaths.

On the same day 37 students were injured after a school bus collided with a truck.

It’s very common to see an over crowded kindergarten bus, but this day, the bus collided head-on with a truck. 19 young children were killed. The nine-seat bus was crammed with 62 preschoolers.

35 people were injured after a school bus rolled over to avoid a clash with an approaching private car.

A four-year-old girl suffocated to death, because the seven-seat school bus was carrying 26 kids.

A school bus loaded with almost twice the number of people allowed, crashed into a roadside construction site, killing one boy. The driver was found to be a drug addict.In many cases, poor driving habits resulted in tragedies.

14 children died when their school bus plunged into a creek. Sometimes, carelessness is to blame.

Two toddlers were forgotten on a bus one hot summer day. They were found dead after being trapped for eight hours.

Many cases like these occur in rural regions. Often, both parents move to big cities in search of better jobs to support their family. They are aware of the conditions their children travel to school in, but there is no other choice, if they want to give them an education.

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