Hyderabad: RTC buses continue to create terror on Hyderabad’s roads. Rash driving, signal jumping, speeding and other violations are routine. These cause death and injuries and are a danger to commuters. At least five accidents involving RTC buses occur every week in Hyderabad. Police and commuters say that cutting across traffic lanes causes accidents and makes these buses a traffic hazard.
“The bus bays are situated on the left side. Buses moving on the right side of the road suddenly move to the left side to access the bus bays. After picking up passengers, the bus moves into the right lane again instantaneously. Thus, there is mayhem in areas where bus bays are located,” said a police officer of the Hyderabad traffic police. “Some RTC drivers behave as if they own the road. They occupy every inch of the road in areas like Mehdipatnam and Secunderabad. Some stop in the middle of the road, ignoring the bus bay,” said Y Kiran Kumar, who commutes on his bike from Secunderabad to his shop at Mehdipatnam.
City police have booked more than 90 cases under IPC section 304 A (causing death due to negligence) against RTC drivers this year. Thousands of RTC drivers have been penalised for road rule violations. The RTC defends its drivers, saying only a few drive recklessly. “There are thousands of drivers working for RTC. Probably five per cent indulge in reckless driving. So the issue can't be generalised to vilify the RTC. In fact, our RTC causes fewer accidents compared to other road transport services in the country,” claims RTC's official spokesperson Kiran Reddy.
With RTC having the largest fleet on the roads, accidents are almost inevitable, “but, we are making constant efforts to improve the behaviour of drivers by giving them counselling and training," said another RTC official. There is no proposal to install CCTV cameras inside buses to keep a vigil on drivers. The RTC believes training sessions will improve the behaviour of their drivers.
Driver rams into bike, gets beaten:
A group of students allegedly beat up an RTC driver at Mehdipatnam because he was driving dangerously. The incident occurred after the bus rammed into a bike that two of the students were travelling on. The bus driver was reportedly speeding and did not stop at a bus bay. According to eyewitnesses, the students and their friends stopped the bus, pulled out the driver, and slapped him.
Traffic came to a standstill for a while as the bus had stopped in the middle of the road. By the time a police team arrived from Humayun Nagar police station, the bus driver and the assailants had left. “We have not got a formal complaint yet from the bus driver. So no case has been registered. If they approach us, we will book a case against the attackers,” said Inspector S Ravinder of the Humayun Nagar police. The attackers are yet to be identified.
