Few in Hengnan county, Hunan province, Central China, will forget the tragedy on Dec 27 when 14 primary school students died and six were injured after the tricycle-turned-cab they took fell into a river.

The shock was felt by nearly everyone, especially those who watch their children climb aboard this kind of vehicle every day.

The accident left questions about the safety of primary school students and reinforced the necessity of quality, standard school buses throughout the nation.

It is cruel that the loss of these young lives should be helping raise the school bus issue. For the kids in mountain areas, the vehicles of poor quality carrying them to and from school are potential killers rather than transport.

The tragedy in Hengnan county re-ignited the debate over whether primary schools should offer buses for their students.

Surely the high rate of fatal accidents justifies the cost and all public primary schools should be responsible for offering their students buses. Additional funds must be found to ensure a safe school bus system.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Standardization Administration of China introduced a rule on the safety requirements for primary school buses on July 1. Standards were set for such items as firefighting equipment, seat belts, windows, exits, and the number of seats for caretakers.

The decree was both necessary and important. The safety of students, whether on a bus or in a school building, should be a priority for officials at all levels.

There is no law that requires a school to chauffeur students back and forth. But it is the law that children attend school. Parents are required to see to it their children are educated. Ensuring a child gets to and from school each day is the duty of a parent. In doing so they have the right to expect that their children are safe.

In the wake of the Hengnan tragedy, the nation's legislators should enforce safety restraints on vehicles transporting primary school students to and from school or require primary schools to offer buses. They should also reinforce the safety standards required of schools. It would be expensive. But what price can be put on a child's safety?