Andhra Pradesh: Speeding and rash drivers cause most of the mishaps

Visakhapatnam: Speeding, rash and careless driving, overtaking wrongly and sleepy drivers have been the causes of accidents in the state. Private buses, especially on NH-16 and NH-9, in Andhra Pradesh are notorious for their rash driving.

Though police, the Road Transport Authority and the National Highways Authority of India have set speed limits for national highways in the state, private buses continue to speed beyond the limit. Most private bus companies in the state are owned by politicians, or their henchmen, and very rarely is any action taken against them.

The number of fatalities in road accidents in AP has been increasing since 2014. While 7,908 lives were snuffed out in road crashes in 2014, the figure went up to 8,297 in 24,258 road accidents in the state in 2015. Vijayawada and Vizag cities reported 362 and 343 deaths on roads in 1,644 and 1,637 accidents respectively in 2015, according to data on road accidents in India-2015.

Speeding and careless driving were behind 60 per cent of road accidents, followed by negligence of drivers. Over 50 per cent of the major road accidents were reported to have occurred on national highways that run through the state.

A senior officer with the Road Transport department said that drivers of private buses claim that they will not get passengers if they run within the prescribed speed limit of 80 kmph and so they run the buses at about 120 kmph.

In AP, private bus owners are a powerful lobby because of their political affiliations and they can stop any meaningful action to curb accidents. Tuesday’s accident near Moolapadu in Penugan-chiprolu mandal in Krishna district, in which 11 people died after a private bus plunged off a bridge and fell into a river, was the result of speeding and a sleepy driver, the road transport officer said.

There is no clarity so far on the installation of speed governors in private buses. The RTA and police are equipped with speed laser guns but there are reasons why enforcement officials remain mute spectators, said Deputy Transport Commissioner, Vizag, S V Rao.

The series of accidents caused by private buses in the state has clearly exposed the lack of monitoring of private bus operations and the dangerous link between political leaders and private bus operators.

Vital numbers

• Over 300 private buses ply between Vijayawada and other destinations daily in AP.
• The maximum speed limit on NHs is 80 kmph but buses run about 120 kmph
• The cause of 60 per cent fatal accidents in AP was over speeding.
• Not a single private bus was booked for over speeding in Vizag region.
• Sleepy drivers were behind highway accidents.