Classes, training and monitoring of the ‘need for speed’ seems to have gone a long way in curbing accidents involving public buses.
Data from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) shows that the number of accidents has come down by more than 22% over three years. In 2014-15, the city had seen 388 accidents in which 78 pedestrians or other motorists died. In March 2017, accidents were down to 299, including 44 fatal ones that lead to 45 deaths.
“At a time when accidents in the city are increasing in general, it is nice to know that those involving BMTC buses have come down,” said Ekroop Caur, Managing Director, BMTC.
BMTC has reduced accident rate primarily by tackling speed of the vehicles. Speed governors and GPS have been fixed in buses as part of the Intelligent Transport System. They reveal when drivers accelerate or apply brakes suddenly.
“There has been a lot of data and analysis on the pattern of accidents. Based on these inputs, training is being conducted regularly. Experts in road safety have been roped to train our trainers,” said Ms. Caur.
The majority of accidents involve pedestrians and two-wheelers, and primarily on the left side in the rear of the bus, which is a black spot for drivers. To compensate for this, BMTC is retrofitting older buses with larger rear-view mirrors, which has brought down the number of accidents.
