Road rage rising among bus drivers

Chennai: Aggressive driving and short tempers are ruling the roads. On Thursday, the city witnessed four deaths in three incidents involving MTC buses. Psychologists speak of a rise in irritability among drivers.

Every day a group of 30 MTC bus drivers are given yoga classes and taught relaxation techniques in Adyar, Chromepet and Ayanavaram, and drivers attend these classes on a rotation basis, say officials.

But the frequency seems to be severely inadequate, with each driver getting two classes in six months. MTC has 7,000 drivers on its rolls. There have been 1,165 deaths due to accidents this year of which 97 were caused by MTC buses.

Dr V. Jayanthini, retired professor of psychiatry, says, “Long hours of work without proper sleep leads to lack of concentration, irritability and drowsiness at times. Drivers should get seven hours of sleep and breaks between shifts. Their job is more demanding in terms of concentration.”

Officials with the MTC say, “Each driver is given an eight-hour shift, and if some prefer to do an additional shift, we make sure he takes a day off the next day. Even after an accident and once the driver completes his suspension period, he is put into one month of aggressive training.”

Dr Jayanthini adds, “I have come across taxi drivers who ply long hours, chewing on gutka to keep themselves awake, but how much will it help?”

She says, “The physical and psychological stress due to long hours of work leads to lack of proper judgment and reaching the destination as early as possible becomes the goal. The irritability factor is on the rise. Listening to melodious music while driving is a good option. We could choose music that soothes.”