BENGALURU: Following the spate of accidents involving BMTC buses and two-wheeler riders, the transport corporation, after an internal investigation, has claimed that the latter themselves were responsible for the accidents in many cases.
In the last ten days, about 4-5 deaths of two-wheeler riders were reported after they collided with BMTC buses. The administrative board of the corporation recently conducted an investigation by anaylsing CCTV camera footage from the buses and reportedly found that two-wheeler riders were mostly responsible for accidents.
The BMTC claims there was no negligence on the part of its drivers in these cases and says the two-wheeler riders crashed into the buses. However, in view of safety, the transport body plans to have training programmes for its staff.
Prabhakar Reddy, head of operations at BMTC said, “Two accidents occurred just last week wherein the two-wheeler came under the rear wheels of the bus. Even if the driver applies brakes, the bus cannot be stopped immediately. If a bus is travelling at 30-35 kmph in the city, it will require at least 3-4 feet for the bus to come to a complete halt after the brakes are applied. By then, it may have run over a person who came under the rear wheels”.
Reddy said that regardless of the drivers not being at fault, training programmes will be organised from next week for the BMTC staff at all the six zones. “Every day, 300 staffers will be given training over a period of six days. This means, 1,800 people will be trained over one week. We will have police officials, traffic experts and other resouce persons conduct the training programme”, he added.
In 2009-10, there were 90-95 accidents per month involving BMTC buses and two-wheelers. The number rose to 70-80 in 2015-16 and then dropped to around 55 per month in 2021-22.