[rejoycjohn]

@Mpower ,

well I think i couldnt communicate well what I mean to say . I meant that the bus drivers are under pressure to maximize the daily collection , and while doing that they tend to forget the road rules and try to play on the edge .

I dont think that they are bothered about the passengers reaching safe or fast at their destination . These same bus drivers during off hours take their own sweet time to move from a bus stop .

[recshenoy]

Last month ,when i had taken one such bus from Udipi to Mangalore ,this maniac driver was driving on the wrong side of a 4 lane stretch in front of the Mangalore port!!!...when i asked him later on the reason behind this ...he said he had the lights on ...so no worries

City bus drivers too are not far behind. Seriously these people drive like maniacs. When roads are good they drive slowly and when they see dense traffic they start squeezing in unnecessary honking!

Very good move by state govt by introducing Volvo buses in Mangalore-Udupi route. Hope, Govt will soon add more non AC buses in Mangalore Udupi route so that these maniacs go off the road! These are some seriously pathetic drivers IMHO.

[ImranShahnawaz]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

You are applauding it or??

If it was in our state we could have pulled that driver out and thrashed the daylights out of him.

I agree with Spitfire only to some extent. How many of us are doing this or howmany of us are atleast filing a complain at the travels office. The common scean is we raise our hand out of window when we see such reckless drivers, curse them for 2 mins and move on.

This situation is same in every state and evey city. Buses moving from Kalasipalayam bus stand (local) are the best example.

[gold class]

YET ANOTHER VOLVO ACCIDENT
The Kallada group multi-axle volvo operating in Bangalore - Alleppy route(red colour B9R) rammed in to a tipper lorry yesterday night near Krishnagiri.Casulaties are not known. The bus had a heavy damage on left side as told to me by a driver of another bus.

[smashnerd]

Originally Posted by gold class

YET ANOTHER VOLVO ACCIDENT
The Kallada group multi-axle volvo operating in Bangalore - Alleppy route(red colour B9R) rammed in to a tipper lorry yesterday night near Krishnagiri.Casulaties are not known. The bus had a heavy damage on left side as told to me by a driver of another bus.

Just goes to show, it's the culture of getting there fast rather than on time and smoothly that is the culprit. At the same time passengers ask for trained and smooth drivers, they need to change their own attitude about getting things done fast. Rather the focus must be on smoothness and giving value to other people on the roads.

[smashnerd]

I like to be eco-friendly. Whenever I drive, I accelerate smoothly, upshift early and plan ahead for braking and turns. Hence it's only logical that I advocate for and use public transportation if I can. But experiences have made this practice hard to keep up.


Some Experiences :-

1. Travelled on Everest Motors bus between Pala and Kottayam. Driver is an official nutcase driving like the police was chasing him. That too on an older bus with massive body roll. His driving got to me and I got down at town midway and hopped on another private. Initial driving of this driver was awesome. He was shifting from 1st to 3rd and keeping to 45-50 kph. But sadly, private buses will be private buses and as soon as the driver saw another in his rear view he resorted to fast, rash and dangerous driving to keep himself ahead of the other bus. A big FAIL for public transportation.

2. Came from Wallardie (near vandiperiyar) to Mundakayam on Sanmariya (Kumily-Changanacherry route) and got the pleasure of experiencing the worst driving ever. Dude was flying down the ghat section, braking in the turn and not before, overtaking dangerously and even doing this when the fog came in at Kuttikanam. My mom even threw up into plastic bags provided by private buses for doing the same (I always wondered why KSRTC's never provided them. It's because you don't throw up on transport buses from the bad driving). Luckily managed to get on a brand new KSRTC Tata 1510 RNC94 (Yes, Tata do run on the hills pretty nice) to Kottayam. Driver was awesome (although a bit agressive on th turns). He was uber-cautious at overtaking. Waited behind trucks for straight piece of road and even kept an eye on the side view mirror before joining back in his lane. He even gave space to slower motorcyclists and kept gaps while overtaking. So this time, as expected, KSRTC saved the reputation of buses.


So, you see, bus drivers tend to be a major hazard on the roads. They drive without a care for anyone else on the road and race each other for miniscule monetary gains (they even do it when they've got different destinations). They even speed through crowded roads passing through the town centre (Everest Motors guy was keen on this). They shout at you to get off fast at your stop and also ring the bell before you've got down and moved away from the bus. The ride on buses is bone-jarring and tiring. Add to that the lack of A/C and you've got a preview of hell. When I see one in my rear-view mirror, my heart starts jumping. All these experiences have close to destroyed reputation of buses in peoples minds.Now I'd like to clarify something. Rash driving is mostly the forte of privates buses. The state-run buses are much better and also have better customer service vis-a-vis not shouting at passengers (atleast thats how it is in Kerala). There are exceptions to this fact on both sides of the argument but not too many.

A reason for such antics on the part of private bus drivers is that their income is related to the collections on that day (they believe spending less time on the route will increase incomes). Also testosterone fueled aggression on the part of the young drivers who haven't been trained properly is also to blame. Third is the culture, where we as commuters want to get to our destination fast (this is why people keep using private buses).

The last couple of days on buses have led me to swear not to use the private buses. And what with the cost of tickets increasing, three or more people travelling together are better off going in their car . They'll have a more comfortable, smooth and relaxed journey. And if their car is a diesel then it'll cost about the same.

I hope the central government bans private buses and rolls out proper buses designed for Indian conditions with high quality standards before people lose faith.

Some Experiences :-

[rjstyles69]

smashnerd we already have a thread here discussing the same topic .

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

see this Travelling by Volvo B7R bus in India: EXCLUSIVE: Two Volvo B7R buses caught racing at 125km/h!

Two 9400 B7R's full of passengers racing each other at speeds in excess of 120 kph on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway!!

I will buy the fact that the VOLVO's hasn't got speed governors or anything on those lines installed. During my previous drive to Hassan, there was a VOLVO constantly tailing me all the way to hassan even when I was touching speeds of 140kmph.
My guess is that he was doing effortlessly 120+.

Wouldn't be surprised if these fellas were racing each other on the highway.

[prmd_cochin]

Well one drives a car at 120 kmph and then pokes at Buses that drives at 125 kmph, do they realise both are violating the norms and equaly guilty.

How many guys have boasted driving the gypsy at 120 kmph while dont wait a second to bash a bus driver.

Double standards ?

[smashnerd]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

smashnerd we already have a thread here discussing the same topic .

I know about it. But that thread is about experiences. I want this thread to look into why rash drivers are let off by the public and also to suggest solutions.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by prmd_cochin

Well one drives a car at 120 kmph and then pokes at Buses that drives at 125 kmph, do they realise both are violating the norms and equaly guilty.

How many guys have boasted driving the gypsy at 120 kmph while dont wait a second to bash a bus driver.

Double standards ?

I failed to fathom what kinda double standards are we discussing here ? I don't think its a mortal sin to drive at those speeds when you are confident about your driving skills and traffic is minimum.

BTW who went on to bash a bus driver for speeding ?

[prmd_cochin]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

I failed to fathom what kinda double standards are we discussing here ? I don't think its a mortal sin to drive at those speeds when you are confident about your driving skills and traffic is minimum.

BTW who went on to bash a bus driver for speeding ?

Take it easy , I didnt mean you. I was watching a whole lot of videos on yotube about guys showing themselves on 120 and then blaing a volvo at 125.

[parichay]

Had a run in with a private bus the other day. It was at about 8:00 PM and there was this private bus that I saw from a distance driving on the wrong side of the road...ie. head on at me; but since there was a safe distance him and me I kept driving on my side of the road thinking he would move back to his side when he came closer...but that did not happen. He kept coming at me I think expecting me to take my wheels of the road for him to pass by however I could not because there was an open drain to my left. Needless to say it was a close one; both of us stopping about a feet of each other! I completely lost it and I was abusing the hell out of him but my better half convinced me not to tangle with the driver/conductor combo who were by now abusing me back as well. Not sure what I could have done other than the abuse which I feel is a poor substitute to actually teaching the guy a lesson that he will never forget. Private bus operators have become synonymous with rash driving here in Kochi with at least one accident that involves them occurring daily. I generally do not lose my cool but this was such a blatantly aggressive act that could have easily turned nasty for me and my family. Just wanted to share it with you guys.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Jimmyjosek

Extreme overtakes.

If you are a lover of high speed bus action, you have to come to Kerala. I dont think any other state in India has drivers flying their buses

Here you can see Gopika, a Trissur-Kannur Limited Stop bus squeezing in between two Ambys. Mind you, the bus is doing 80 kmph plus. The bus passes through the small gap between the cars. So close, but never touches

Everything you said about buses in Kerala is true, but I don't think the bus in the picture is doing 80+ Kmph. If yes, I wonder how did you get such a steady shot of the bus, with no sign of motion blur at all.

[download2live]

Guys do check out the drive from silk board towards Hosur. Its a wrestling match between KA and TN buses.