Guest Column: Adjust schedules to avoid reckless driving

The BMTC is expected to launch an Intelligent Transport System (ITS), but this is not going to help in curbing the rising number of  road accidents in the city. The ITS will only track the buses to see if they are on route. But there is something called the Accident Management System, which is used extensively in countries like Japan, but is not yet available in India.

To understand the causes of accidents involving BMTC buses, we need to go to their root cause. Often a driver speeds to keep to the bus schedules, which have not been planned  scientifically keeping the  condition of the roads and the traffic in mind. The travel time of vehicles on the roads  has come down drastically over the years owing to rise in traffic.  When all  vehicles are driving at a speed of 10 km per hour, we cannot expect the BMTC buses to ply at 20 to 30 km per hour.

However, these drivers  try to speed for fear of losing their bonuses or incentives. So how do we ensure safe and swift movement of BMTC buses? The  BMTC needs to become more practical and give the drivers a five minute buffer time. In fact,  according to the norms, they must be given  a five minute break every one hour trip, but since they are always late, they cannot afford to take this break.

People too should stand clear of  the road as buses are huge vehicles and are  difficult to maneouvre and control. Last but not least we need to keep  in mind that the roads in the city are narrow. We need to remove  road parking and make more  space available for  buses.