[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by Guna

I have always wondered if driving a bus with rear engine is tricky as you miss out on the feedback (thorugh sound) on what the engine is doing.

That was hilarious . I don't know whether it was meant to pass as a joke. Now I know why the drivers in normal buses don't doze off at the wheel. The loud, loud diesel racket below the gear lever and the smell of diesel. No offenses.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Guna

There was a Volvo (city bus) accident claiming 4-5 people standing in a bus shelter in Bangalore some time back.
Looks like driving Volvo buses requires some training and these drivers may have lacked that.
I have always wondered if driving a bus with rear engine is tricky as you miss out on the feedback (thorugh sound) on what the engine is doing. It can feel little disconnected.

The drivers are handpicked and trained for a month at Volvo facility. Its just their sheer don't care attitude which results in accidents.
In Bengaluru, they drive like maniacs.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Guna

There was a Volvo (city bus) accident claiming 4-5 people standing in a bus shelter in Bangalore some time back.
Looks like driving Volvo buses requires some training and these drivers may have lacked that.

All drivers working on Volvo buses - especially in RTCs - are properly trained at Volvo. Infact, the driver selection process for KSRTC and BMTC is very strict, according to a driver. Only guys with an accident free record are considered for the training - IIRC, the minimum service period was 5 years. Shortlisted drivers are sent to Volvo for training. After training, the successful guys are allowed Volvo buses. Their service is reviewed periodically, and driver involved in 'frequent' accidents are pulled out - accidents of the sort that do not cause fatalty but cause damage to the bus.

The accident in Bangalore was blamed on faulty brakes. But insiders say that it was a driver error. In the anxiety - or shock - the driver is thought to have applied the accelerator instead of the brake. THe volvo being a very tourquey creature, just sprung ahead.

Originally Posted by Guna

I have always wondered if driving a bus with rear engine is tricky as you miss out on the feedback (thorugh sound) on what the engine is doing. It can feel little disconnected.

So do you mean to say the driver dozed because of that?

Then drivers in coaches across US should be dozing at the wheels! If you have noticed, many volvo drivers open their windows - they claim it is to have 'feedback' from the engine. However, I have noticed that the Kerala SRTC guys drive with their windows closed - may be they don't mind being 'disconnected'

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by srishiva

The drivers are handpicked and trained for a month at Volvo facility. Its just their sheer don't care attitude which results in accidents.
In Bengaluru, they drive like maniacs.

Like someone's signature says 'With great power comes great responsibility' . I've had the pleasure of driving down the NH4 (Yawn! how many times have I boasted about that) at night. The only big vehicles to make you scare are the Volvos (VRL & Sharma and National and what not). For them , everything else is not existant. I could not catch up with even a single volvo, you can imagine the speeds they were doing.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Like someone's signature says 'With great power comes great responsibility' . I've had the pleasure of driving down the NH4 (Yawn! how many times have I boasted about that) at night. The only big vehicles to make you scare are the Volvos (VRL & Sharma and National and what not). For them , everything else is not existant. I could not catch up with even a single volvo, you can imagine the speeds they were doing.

I made the mistake of taking on a Volvo on the NH48 between BC road & Nelyadi and he almost pushed me out of the road. Well, my car (a friend's 1998 Zen) was not able to do speeds as much as the volvo, but I did manage to overtake him when he braked at some place. I think he got pissed off (I don't know why?) and was trying all the tricks in the book to overtake me inspite of heavy on coming traffic. He then pushed me off the road in Nelyadi town & moved on. It was another matter that I finally did overtake him somewhere in the ghats when he was huffing and puffing and never saw him again.

I agree that they are trained well by volvo, but I believe certain drivers do think they are the owners of the road