Draft school bus safety regulations, drawn up by the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, were released for public comment in China today, Xinhua reported.

Through financial support, preferential taxes, encouragement of donations and other means, the country will provide school bus services for students receiving compulsory education in rural areas.

The spokesman for SCLAO said: "The school bus is a mobile schoolhouse, so the school should be responsible for the safety of traveling students. As the school buys school buses and the company provides school bus services, both entities should be responsible for the safety of buses.”

The draft lays out three priorities for school buses: when a school bus is carrying students, traffic police should let it pass preferentially; a school bus can travel in bus lanes and other special channels reserved for public transport vehicles; when a school bus stops on the road to release or pick up students, vehicles behind it must stop to wait.

China issued a set of technical standards for school buses for primary school students last year, and the drafting of another standard for buses for the kindergartners is also underway.

According to the draft, the government will adopt a license system for school bus operation.

Vehicles that are up to school bus standards and with a unified appearance will be first in line to obtain approval from education authorities, and the draft also requires buses to register at the traffic administrative agencies before they can be used as school buses.

Instead of compulsory annual safety checks, the draft would require school bus owners to renew their safety qualifications every six months.

Drivers should also check the safety condition of the buses before each commute, the draft said.

The draft asks schools and the school bus service providers to intensify safety management and maintenance and assign special staff on buses to look after students on board.

Further, the draft stipulates strict qualification standards for school bus drivers, including their ages, driving experience, non-violation records and health condition.

Since most of the students and preschoolers in urban regions go to schools located in the vicinity of their homes, the government will give more support in terms of financial aid and taxation benefits for expanding bus services in the country's rural areas, where the students have to travel much farther for school, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office said in a statement.

China has started nationwide school bus safety checks and pledged increased spending on school buses in wake of a fatal accident that stirred public concern over safety.

Twenty-one people, including 19 preschoolers and two adults, died, and 43 others were injured last month when a nine-seat school bus illegally carrying 64 people collided head-on with a coal truck in Gansu province.

The accident has revealed problems in the country's school bus management, including regulatory loopholes, unimplemented safety measures and a failure to carry out government responsibilities, according to a statement issued by the State Council's Work Safety Committee.

On Wednesday, another school bus ran red lights and collided with a truck, injuring 13 people, including 11 students on board, in Guangdong province.

Several days after the November accident, Premier Wen Jiabao called on relevant government departments to "rapidly" create safety regulations and standards for the country's school buses while further improving the design, production, and distribution of the vehicles.

The draft regulation is available at www.chinalaw.gov.cn, and feedback via online posts, letters and e-mails will be accepted until January 11, 2012.