Thrissur: Certain clauses in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, tampering with speed governors and rash driving are the reasons for the road race by private buses leading to accidents, Road Transport Officials and Motor vehicles inspectors here have said. Their response comes in the wake of a road accident at Aaramkallu near Mannuthy on Sunday at 9.30 a.m. in which a private bus plying on the Thrissur-Palakkad route fell on its side allegedly during a road race with another private bus. As many as 30 passengers including the driver suffered injuries as the private bus Moncy toppled onto a mound of soil dumped on the side of the road. If the bus had hit the tar road, it could have caught fire in the impact of the accident.
The injured were admitted to General Hospital and Jubilee Mission Hospital in Thrissur. None of the injured are serious. DC has learned from local people that a road race led to the accident and they also alleged that the speed governor of the bus had been tampered with. Speaking to DC, Mannuthy SI Krishna Kumar said that the investigation would be completed by recording the statement of the passengers. Police is yet to take the statement, he added. Motor Vehicle Inspector in Thrissur Saju Backer, who is also the joint RTO in-charge, said that permits were given for buses on the Thrissur-Palakkad route to conduct services every three minutes and for the last few years no new permits had been given.
“In the MV Act 1988, there is no provision to reject the application for a permit and if rejected, the bus operators could get it by approaching the court. The other issue is of tampering with the speed governor after the routine test of the buses conducted by the officials,” he noted. As the MV laws in India are not as stringent as in developed countries, the drivers here have a mindset that engaging in a road race is a must to show off their skills.
“With the Parliament planning to pass the Road Safety Bill by 2018, some major changes will take place as there are stringent punishments mentioned in it,” he said. Meanwhile, local people led by functionaries of the Mannuthy-based organization ‘Neerkazhcha’ alleged that RTO officials and police had failed miserably in containing the road race by private buses thereby putting the life of passengers on the line. They would soon be taking up the matter with the RTO here.
