Most drivers of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) are feared by the public for rash driving . The motorists have almost come to equate the MTC buses to water lorries, vehicles that have caused a large number of deaths in the past in the city.
The MTC management has taken road accidents and traffic violations seriously and has made some progress in bringing down the accident rate. The Safety and Training Wing, entrusted with the task of bringing down the accident rate through its sustained training and awareness programmes to drivers and conductors, has reduced the accident rate in the past two years.
A senior official of the MTC said any accident involving the MTC buses would normally reach the officials of the Safety and Training Wing immediately. The officials of the wing maintain each and every record of the accidents involving MTC buses and would be doing an internal investigation irrespective of the cases filed by the police. He said: “If the driver is found to be at fault, appropriate departmental action would be taken as per the recommendations of the safety wing.”
Over the past two years, a series of training programmes for drivers involved in fatal accidents provided by the safety wing has helped in bringing down the accidents. The MTC official said the total number of accidents in the past two years has been reducing gradually, with the total accidents this financial year of 2017-18 (till August 2017) being 485. In 2016-17, the accident total was 1,277 against 1,661 in 2015-16. The number of accidents in 2014-15 was 1,965. A senior official of the safety wing said several programmes for drivers and conductors were being conducted every week to stress on following traffic rules and signals, yoga sessions, and referring drivers above 40 years of age for vision testing. For those drivers involved in accidents, refresher training is given. Similarly, drivers involved in fatal accidents are posted on chosen routes to keep a watch on a daily basis on their driving habits. Rewards are also given to drivers who have not had any accidents during the year, he added.
While the MTC has been able to make some inroads in bringing down the number of accidents significantly this year, it still has a long to way to go in reducing fatal accidents. As per the statistical data, the number of fatal accidents have reduced marginally by five in 2016-17 against the figure of 114 in 2015-16. The number of fatal accidents in 2014-15 was 111. The fatal accidents for 2017-18 (up to August) was 32.
The MTC official said, “Category wise, we have brought down the number of fatal accident involving cycle, passenger, pedestrian and autorickshaws, except two-wheelers, which stands at 62 (2016-17) against 40 (2015-16). While the MTC is taking steps to bring down the accidents, they also want the traffic police to create a separate lane for two-wheelers, make pedestrians to use only zebra crossing and strictly implement helmet wearing by two-wheelers.
