No body bothers about the future if life runs smoothly. Only when one or two mishaps occur that people become aware and think of all the precautions they could have taken to prevent them. This is hindsight and typical of human nature.

Nowadays, one aspect in the life of school-going children that could assume alarming proportions is the rickshaw that takes them to school. The rickshaw puller who carries them to school and back is hardly concerned about their safety. In his attempt to earn as much money as he can, he overloads his rickshaw, sometimes cramming as many as 15 to 18 children on or into it.

Kareem Mohammed, a rickshaw puller, who is a 'regular' in the schoolchildren business, justifies the overloading by saying that it is the parents who prefer to send their children to school in rickshaw because it is the cheapest mode of transport. "We do not ask them to use our services', he said. There are so many other alternatives like auto-rickshaw, Maruti van, bus, etc. for school children. It up to the parents to decide whatever is suitable for their child," he says. Parents are generally aware of the danger that children in rickshaws are exposed to. But economy generally takes the upper hand.

Shankar Biswas, another rickshaw puller, claimed that rickshaw pullers took utmost care of the school children while they were in their charge. Despite that, accidents do occur but disclaims any responsibility for them. "After all," he says "rickshaw pullers are also human beings and do sometimes make mistakes." He points out that accidents take place in planes and trains too, but the driver is not blamed for them.

Sunil Datta, father of a class first student of St. Joseph Academy in East Delhi accused rickshaw pullers of loading as many children as they could in the rickshaw. "They pack their rickshaw with children as if they are pieces of luggage", he says. "The rickshaw has a limited sitting capacity and rickshaw owners must stay within this limit", he says. Placing an additional wooden seat in the rickshaw to increase the sitting space is risky especially for the children sitting at the ends of the seat. They do not even get space to place their feet. Sunil feels that covered rickshaws are preferable as the children are safe inside.

Uma Niranjan, mother of a 12-year-old child says: "It is our necessity to send our child under such risky circumstances". The rickshaw is the cheapest means of transport in comparison to other vehicles. She says that "poverty forced us to send our child in a rickshaw which is not at all safe for school children. "The school fees are itself a burden on people like us who belong to middle class families; how then can we afford heavy school bus charges?", she asks.