Drivers speed at 170kmph on good roads: RTC chief

Hyderabad: At the one-day workshop on ‘Accident Prevention and Road Safety Management’ held for APSRTC’s mechanical engineers, APSRTC chief A.K. Khan pointed out that on good roads, it had been noticed that private bus drivers were speeding at 140 to 170 km per hour.

The workshop attended by 150-plus mechanical engineers will see the engineers coming up with suggestions that will be used for formulating a regulation by APSRTC to enhance safety; the resultant manual will also be shared with private bus operators.

In many cases, high-end buses do not have speed limits set by operators and the vehicles are capable of clocking 180 km per hour. It was also pointed out that 80 per cent of bus accidents occurred due to human error, mainly driver negligence.

The corporation’s state-level workshop to strengthen the safety measures in bus transport, especially for high-end buses that are more prone to accidents, came after the recent Volvo bus accident in Mahbubnagar that claimed the lives of 45 passengers.

While APSRTC has an electronically-monitored speed locking system in place at 90 km per hour, for Volvos it is 100 km per hours though drivers are only allowed a maximum speed limit of 70 km per hour.

Over 150 mechanical engineers participated in the program, which included group discussion and presentation on technical aspects by representatives of bus manufactures Volvo, Mercedes Benz and Ashok Leyland.

The participants of the workshop, in turn, will train drivers and supervisors of their respective regions on  the importance of road safety. The participants will also come up with various solutions to prevent bus accidents and identify manufacturing faults in the buses.

Next: Criminal cases for violators: Botsa

Criminal cases for violators: Botsa

Amar Tejaswi | DC

Hyderabad: Private travel operators will be charged for a criminal offence if they violate the law. Transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana on Tuesday held a meeting with transport and APSRTC officials and told them to file criminal cases against erring operators.

He also told APSRTC to ply more buses on long routes for the convenience of passengers. About 722 buses were seized and 1,034 cases have been booked since the beginning of this month.

Transport officials said that criminal cases can be booked under the purview of the Motor Vehicles Act. Such cases have been booked for transport of explosive materials. Criminal cases can be booked for any offence that endangers the safety of passengers in any way.

“For instance, if a bus is plying with just one driver on long distance routes, then it is endangering the safety of passengers,” a senior transport department officer said. The transport minister wants more passengers to travel by APSRTC and thus wants more buses on long distance routes. 

Private travel operators will now be booked for advertising their buses on booking portals. “If a contract carriage bus is shown to have available seats on a booking portal, then it is a violation and data on the server will have evidence. For this also we will take strict action,” the official said.