Buses of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) continue to lead the accident table for the third consecutive year. And this, despite the fact that the APSRTC bus drivers undergo a rigorous training session before taking to the steering and with added mid-career refresher sessions.
This year, of the 377 accidents, APSRTC buses were involved in 18, of which seven were fatal and in the other instances victims suffered grievous injuries.
Since 2014, the APSRTC buses were involved in about 180 accidents, leaving over 50 dead and 116 injured.
On the face of it, the accident figures may look small. But considering the fact that there are only about 600 APSRTC buses in the city limits, the figures are compellingly high, compared to the 10 lakh odd other vehicles and about 6,000 lorries and heavy vehicles plying through the city on a daily basis, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K. Mahendra Patrudu.
In 2014, the ‘killer buses’ were responsible for about 20 deaths and left over 50 injured and in 2015, the fatalities were 26 and about 58 persons were seriously injured.
A number of factors
On why the accident rate was high, despite the drivers undergoing extensive training, Mr. Mahendra Patrudu said, “There are a number of factors such as condition of the bus, stress factor, following time schedule and fuel economy of the vehicles.”
Most of the vehicles are not well-conditioned and the drivers are under stress due to extended work hours and working under circumstances such as heat. Sticking to the time schedule and running the buses at speed to maintain fuel efficiency are also factors to be considered, said ACP (Traffic) Kinjarapu Prabhakar.
This apart, talking over cell phones, rash and negligent driving and drunken driving are the other factors. In 2014, a drunk APSRTC driver mowed down two persons at Gajuwaka and the driver was booked under IPC Section 304, said Mr. Mahendra Patrudu. And in 2015, a negligent driver mowed down 11 persons in one accident at Marikavalasa junction.
The buses also tend to flout traffic norms on a regular basis. “This will come into focus once our CC TV camera network is synchronised and gets operational. We will integrate our network with the e-challan concept and penalise the errant drivers,” said Mr. Mahendra Patrudu.
Sources in the traffic police said a proposal wassent to the APSRTC depot managers to support the enforcement by imposing fine amounts on the errant drivers, but there had been no response.
