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Rtc Buses Run Amok On Hyderabad Roads | Hyderabad News
HYDERABAD: A day after an elderly couple was mowed down by a TSRTC bus in Bowenpally, TOI found that 2022 witnessed a spike in fatal accidents involving RTC buses with these vehicles leading to 269 deaths, across Telangana. Of them, 35 (up to November) were reported from Hyderabad. Most of the victims were either pedestrians and two-wheeler riders.
In the last two years, this toll was 222 (2021) and 265 (2019), respectively.
Officials of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) feel that the the blame lies both with the drivers and road users. “Our analysis shows that about 20% to 30% of fatal accidents are caused due to negligence or incorrect judgment of drivers. The rest are mostly caused because of the mistake of pedestrians or motorists,” said a senior RTC official.
Citing some examples of such errors, he added: “Most often it is found that victims were either crossing the road from the blind spot of the bus or when two buses were overtaking each other. In some cases, an accident turned fatal when the two-wheeler has tried to overtake from the left.”
While officials say that they are working on bringing the number of fatal incidents down to zero, they also stress how going by the accident to road length ratio, the figures aren’t very alarming. For instance, as per data, TSRTC operated buses on 105 crore kms while the total count of fatal accidents was 269 — roughly 0.07 deaths per one lakh km. Similarly, an analysis of the last four years data shows that TSRTC has had an accident rate of 0.07 to 0.06 deaths per lakh km.
Road safety experts, however, refuse to make light of the situation and call for immediate remedial methods. To begin with, they suggest that TSRTC run a quality check on drivers and set more realistic goals for them.
“Unrealistic targets puts them under pressure and encourages them to drive rashly. In cities for instance, drivers are expected to use a certain amount of diesel, finish a trip within certain hours and maintain timings irrespective of growing traffic. This pushes them to drive recklessly for fear of missing out on incentives,” said Vinod Kanumula, from the Indian Federation of Road Safety. He also suggested more training for drivers, especially those above 45 years since they are not in touch with new age driving, which involves superior breaking systems and acceleration equipment making room for errors. “Lastly, we also need to hire more drivers to reduce the burden on the current workforce as they tend to put in extra hours, leaving them drained,” Kanumula added.
In the last two years, this toll was 222 (2021) and 265 (2019), respectively.
Officials of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) feel that the the blame lies both with the drivers and road users. “Our analysis shows that about 20% to 30% of fatal accidents are caused due to negligence or incorrect judgment of drivers. The rest are mostly caused because of the mistake of pedestrians or motorists,” said a senior RTC official.
Citing some examples of such errors, he added: “Most often it is found that victims were either crossing the road from the blind spot of the bus or when two buses were overtaking each other. In some cases, an accident turned fatal when the two-wheeler has tried to overtake from the left.”
While officials say that they are working on bringing the number of fatal incidents down to zero, they also stress how going by the accident to road length ratio, the figures aren’t very alarming. For instance, as per data, TSRTC operated buses on 105 crore kms while the total count of fatal accidents was 269 — roughly 0.07 deaths per one lakh km. Similarly, an analysis of the last four years data shows that TSRTC has had an accident rate of 0.07 to 0.06 deaths per lakh km.
Road safety experts, however, refuse to make light of the situation and call for immediate remedial methods. To begin with, they suggest that TSRTC run a quality check on drivers and set more realistic goals for them.
“Unrealistic targets puts them under pressure and encourages them to drive rashly. In cities for instance, drivers are expected to use a certain amount of diesel, finish a trip within certain hours and maintain timings irrespective of growing traffic. This pushes them to drive recklessly for fear of missing out on incentives,” said Vinod Kanumula, from the Indian Federation of Road Safety. He also suggested more training for drivers, especially those above 45 years since they are not in touch with new age driving, which involves superior breaking systems and acceleration equipment making room for errors. “Lastly, we also need to hire more drivers to reduce the burden on the current workforce as they tend to put in extra hours, leaving them drained,” Kanumula added.
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