[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Probably risk of the glass shattering even in the instance of a minor graze. The current ones are mainly Laminated ones, and hence even in case of a graze or a hit with a tree or its kind, the window would crack, but it wouldn't break or cause injuries inside - that wouldn't be the case if all or more number of windows had toughened glasses.

Oh. This is bad then. If more windows were provided it would be better since all passengers won't jump onto one or windows.

Originally Posted by binaiks

In the current accident, more than the lack of emergency exits, I think the fact that most people were asleep and the very low reaction time available caused most of the casualties.

Apart from the sleeping time, the recliner seats keep the person near the window arrested like as it is difficult to jump out with the front seat in reclined position.

Originally Posted by binaiks

A proper educational video before each trip would help solve this to an extent - but the problem is the "I know everything" attitude of many people, who would either not concentrate on the video, or worse force the operator not to play it (or play a movie instead).

They would shout if such movies are played. Regional / Hindi Movie is important and not educational.

I have seen instances where passengers were shouting at the person who was trying to play a movie but the CD/DVD was taking its time to read and play and when the second screen was not opened.

Anurag.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by binaiks

In the current accident, more than the lack of emergency exits, I think the fact that most people were asleep and the very low reaction time available caused most of the casualties. The windows break real quick if you hurtle something at it - people need to be made aware of the emergency routes - people tend to flock to the front door immediately instead of looking at the alternatives. A proper educational video before each trip would help solve this to an extent - but the problem is the "I know everything" attitude of many people, who would either not concentrate on the video, or worse force the operator not to play it (or play a movie instead).

That is very much correct.

Even in an airplane, barely anyone gives any attention whatsoever to the security demonstration at the start.

And in a bus, its not exactly a very difficult thing to spot where the nearest emergency exit is. But nobody does it.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by binaiks

...Koothattukulam is not a major town per se, and hence doesn't have reservation facilities for KeSRTC. There are buses via Koothattukulam to Coimbatore...

Thanks for all your advise folks. Did this trip 2 days ago. Eventually decided to go direct from Blore to Koothatukulam by KSRTC Rajahamsa. It was a Tata bus. I've been on Rajahamsa thrice so far, and always its been a Tata bus thats driven cautiously/slowly. I actually dont mind it, esp given the recent accidents. Seats were quite comfortable. Dep Shantinagar 5.30pm, reached Koothatukulam 6.30am.

On the return, I had booked an AC sleeper bus from Ernakulam direct to Blore. It was a Greenline travels bus operated by Kalyani travels (I dont quite understand that arrangement). We (parents and I) boarded at Woodlands junction in Ernakulam at 8pm. It was a Leyland bus. The engine sound was excellent. I could hear the engine sound all the way till the last row and I loved it. Bus was driven quite fast (and I presume he didnt take undue risks, bcoz I didnt notice any sudden braking, but the extra fast driving had me worried nevertheless; what if one loses control due to sudden lane change, etc!), and reached Madivala in Bangalore at 7am. The bus was well maintained, looked quite new actually.

[TheARUN]

I think the windows as emergency exits option is not feasible. For one, after you break the glass, you are still looking at a 15 feet vertical drop to the road! Imagine women and the elderly taking that route.

What seems to be the best option as of now is what KaSRTC has done, created a make-shift door at the back which opens till the floor level

Going OT - The transport department has come up with some rules for Travel operators now, or rather has started enforcing a few rules that were already there.
- Speed governors
- No third party luggage in the luggage holds
- No movement on highways from 0:00 to 5:00

Can anyone throw more light on them rules?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by binaiks

In the current accident, more than the lack of emergency exits, I think the fact that most people were asleep and the very low reaction time available caused most of the casualties).

I agree with the details in your post.

This morning's paper gave me a reason for irritation, seeing Bhaskar Rao's, the former transport minister's comments on Volvo and safety!

What an idiot he must be to question the very manufacturer whose main feature always revolves around safety and are the acknowledged innovators and leaders in this space!

The thing here is that Volvo cannot control what the customer does in terms of body build customizations outside of the factory.

The real problem is the lack of proper safety norms and complete lack of enforcement.

The tendency of all these operators to take a lackadaisical attitude to safety and other precautions is also to blame.

The root causes are really the endemic corruption and systemic compromise and poor attitude combined with a disregard for the value of 'life'.

Very sad state of affairs but rampant in a poor third world country like ours.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

- No movement on highways from 0:00 to 5:00

seriously ? this will spell doom both for operators as well as weekend travellers

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

- Speed governors

Speed governors can be and will be tampered with. Unless somebody like Rishiraj Singh takes charge and enforces this rule, it'll be gone with the wind.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

- No third party luggage in the luggage holds

This will either kill the industry because of lack of revenue, or the operators will be forced to jack up ticket fares to remain profitable - operators rake in most of their revenue by ferrying luggage

Originally Posted by TheARUN

- No movement on highways from 0:00 to 5:00

This is inviting trouble, IMO. All the buses will halt at the state/city border till 5 o'clock and then the mad run begins to reach the drop off points.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The root causes are really the endemic corruption and systemic compromise and poor attitude combined with a disregard for the value of 'life'.

We are one billion 'strong', losing a few lives in some accidents is not going to affect our 'strength', which, as you said are corruption and compromises made on the very basics

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Speed governors can be and will be tampered with. Unless somebody like Rishiraj Singh takes charge and enforces this rule, it'll be gone with the wind.

Last week there was RTO checking near Electronic city. He was checking Kallada B9R.

RTO: Where are you going?
Driver: Kollam
R: What speed are you driving?
D: 100
R: You have speed governer?
D: Blah blah
R: You want me to check?
D: No, I don't have
R: What speed you really drive?
D: Up to 110
R: Do you have tinted glass?
D: blah blah

RTO calls his team to check it. They have tinted glass.

The same bus does 300+ kms daily on Kerala roads. Are the MVD Kerala team not aware of these? Or, their cameras not recording?

In another forum, someone mentioned that SRM left Vyttila at 11pm. The same day, I spotted this bus near Trichur toll by 11:35. He also claimed that the bus reached Bangalore by 6.20am.

Are they not overspeeding? During one of my trips, Kallada Merc jumped over a bridge joint at 120+ and driver almost lost control.

I think anything above 100 is not suitable for Indian roads.

[silversteed]

The Hindu reports:

Narrow escape for passengers as KSRTC bus catches fire



Over 25 passengers travelling by a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus had a fortunate escape after the bus caught fire in Yeshwanthpur on Thursday.

Although the bus was destroyed in the fire, all 27 occupants, including the driver and the conductor, escaped unhurt.

The accident comes a week after a private Volvo bus to Hyderabad caught fire, killing 45 passengers.

According to the Yeshwanthpur police, around 5.30 p.m., the KSRTC’s Vaibhava, a semi-luxury bus, from Hassan to Bangalore stopped at Goraguntepalya junction so that some passengers could get off. Some people saw thick smoke coming from the engine and alerted the driver. The fire caused panic among passengers, who rushed out of the bus.

Driver Mohammed Yusuf Sheriff and conductor Range Gowda tried to remove the battery and douse the fire with water from a bottle, but in vain. Some passersby and shopkeepers also pitched in, but the fire engulfed the entire bus within minutes. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot and put out the fire, the police said.

Traffic on the busy Yeshwanthpur road was disrupted for a while.

Some passengers reportedly lost their belongings in the fire as they got out in a hurry.

Police estimate that there were around 25 passengers on board, but a KSRTC spokesperson said the bus, which left Hassan at 2.15 p.m., had 17 passengers when the accident occurred.

Preliminary examination suggests that a short circuit in the wiring could be the reason for the fire. KSRTC officials towed the bus to the depot to conduct a detailed probe. The KSRTC spokesperson said the fire erupted from the engine of the bus.

The coach, built on a Tata 1618 model, was commissioned on December 24, 2012 into the KSRTC fleet and had clocked 3.87 lakh km.

The bus had undergone routine maintenance on Wednesday.

I wonder why the driver and conductor didn't use the Fire Extinguisher, and poured water instead.

[sagarpadaki]

OT: 3.87 Lakh kms in less than a year?! Thats some serious mile crunching!

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The Hindu reports:

I wonder why the driver and conductor didn't use the Fire Extinguisher, and poured water instead.

Lucky fellows!

I don't where did they place fire extinguisher but in KeSRTC new super deluxe, its not at all placed well. I think passengers will have better access than driver in an emergency.

[srishiva]

Hopefully AC buses will get more windows that can be opened. Having one or two emergency windows will not suffice since movement of people in these buses is hampered with very little space left to walk around. Also, the 'luxury' seats can add fodder to fire.

The media that creates a havoc and sometimes forces people to alter their perspective when it comes to politics should pursue these safety issues towards a logical end.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

OT: 3.87 Lakh kms in less than a year?! Thats some serious mile crunching!

200km one way between Bangalore and Hassan, that's about 800km a day, if it makes two trips a day. I am assuming that this bus was used for some other longer distance routes, which would've caused such a huge odo reading.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

I don't where did they place fire extinguisher but in KeSRTC new super deluxe, its not at all placed well. I think passengers will have better access than driver in an emergency.

I remember seeing the Firex placed just behind the driver seat in the older Super Deluxe buses (RRC972, RRC973 of PLKD had them there). Since there was no driver partition, it was easily accessible too. Not sure if it's the same way in the newer buses. IMO, one firex should be kept in the passenger saloon as well, either at the rearmost row (KSRTC Super Deluxe buses have only 4 seats in the last row, so it's easily accessible) and/or somewhere in the middle, fixed on a window pillar.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

OT: 3.87 Lakh kms in less than a year?! Thats some serious mile crunching!

OT :
3.87 lakh / 330 days (11 months) ~= 1170 km per day. I wonder when do these buses go for regular service

[mpksuhas]

^^ I guess the Odometer reading quoted in the report is wrong or the bus is bit more older. Since as per calculation above if bus has to do around 1100 KM's per day for whole of 11 months it should be running around 20 hours every day for 11 months.
Usually longer the distance, longer the rest time for buses and drivers. You can see inter state buses which would have reached Bangalore after an over night travel stopped at various locations near Majestic while driver rests in the bus. The same bus will do another over night trip the next day.