Bus rammed container lorry on Bangalore Highway; 15 injured
Less than 48 hours after an MTC bus fell off Gemini flyover injuring about 40 passengers, another bus rammed a container lorry on the Bangalore Highway on Friday afternoon.
The bus on route no. 554 started from Saidapet depot in the morning was heading to Sriperumbadur. There were around 20 passengers in the vehicle. After passing through Guindy and Porur, it reached St. Johns International School around 12.45 p.m.
According to the police, the driver was speeding. “The driver Anbazhagan rammed the vehicle into a container lorry ahead of him. The lorry, carrying cars, was travelling on the left side of the road,” said Poonamallee traffic investigation inspector V. Gunasekaran.
About 15 passengers were injured with three sustaining serious injuries. They were rushed to a private hospital.
A case was registered under section 279 of the IPC (rash and negligent driving). The driver was let out on bail later.
An official at the Saidapet bus depot said the driver Anbazhagan had been handed a memo for speeding on an earlier occasion. “He is notorious for driving at a high speed,” the official said.
Mr. Gunasekaran said that it was common to find vehicles speeding on Bangalore Highway. “The national highway is meant for comfortable driving. Bus and car drivers should act more responsibly and adhere to speed limits,” he said.
Commuters, however, are losing their patience with MTC drivers. “One often finds buses speeding between Valluvar Kottam and Kodambakkam bridge. It is a very narrow stretch and can easily lead to an accident,” said S. Richard, who works in private company in Kodambakkam.
Keywords: MTC bus, narrow escape
It is odd to notice that many wrong practices are being followed by MTC staff. The drivers will not stop the bus at stops and jump the traffic signal. The traffic policeman will be watching helplessly. If the police take severe action and ask the erring driver to pay on the spot fine, drivers can be disciplined.
In the same way, the conductors are sitting in their seats and indirectly encouraging the ticketless travel. The checking squad actually should spot fine the erring conductors if any passenger is found travelling without a ticket.
The depot maintenance team shall be advised to adopt preventive maintenance schedule rather than attending routine break downs.
Will the MTC management take the necessary corrective action???
fire the driver - memo is a piece of paper and as reported if the pathetic union starts a fight dissolve the union - union were meant to protect the employees from employer abuse, not for employees to abuse employer.
Ms. Jayalalitha had done similar thing in her last tenure, when bus drivers all went on strike she with strong heart showed what government can do. Please leave politics aside and for public sake make a 180 degree change in the way MTC operates. The best dissolve MTC and give it private - we can use BOT model that is used for aiports, roads etc. I AM NOT A CAPITALIST BUT I SCREAM PRIVATIZE THE SO CALLED PUBLIC TRANSPORT - WITH RIDERS AND STIPULATED RULES THOUGH, school and college students subsidy, elderly get 50% reduced fare, physically challenged 50% reduced- we can do it.
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