[deathwalkr]

Sure start in school itself All the way to college. If common sense is not prevailing then educate them.

[shubhodeepdas@g]

Originally Posted by Pferdestarke

Rather than displaying videos to educate people after letting them drive on roads, RTA must take up such educational sessions prior to issuing driving license.

As a kid, I remember seeing a public awareness campaign on Doordarshan that showed why it is easier to overtake approaching a right hand curve while it's not advisable to overtake approaching a left hand curve. Till date it's vividly stuck to my head.

These should find their way to the textbooks so that they are grilled into everyone's head. Showing a video on the road at intersections is distracting and should not be encouraged.

[Pferdestarke]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Sure start in school itself All the way to college. If common sense is not prevailing then educate them.

Originally Posted by shubhodeepdas@g

Till date it's vividly stuck to my head.These should find their way to the textbooks so that they are grilled into everyone's head.

Things learnt in the early years will have a great impact on behavior and it is always easy to inculcate the idea in young and pliable minds rather than brawling with stubborn and arrogant heads.

It'd be good if Road & Traffic Safety is included in the curriculum suitably in the secondary school I guess.

[audioholic]

Saw this in the newspaper today. Apparently the driver had to avoid an incoming tipper and this took him off the road. While others suffered minor injuries the driver has had a head injury and some bleeding inside the head. Maybe because of falling down from his seat towards the passengers side when the bus fell on its side. Head would have got a series of blows from the various railings in the bus. A clear indicator of how unsafe practices like not wearing a seat belt (does it even exist in this bus?) can cost dearly to the poor driver. A few days back I traveled in a KSRTC Scania metrolink bus. This was a new bus which had seatbelts on all seats and I was more than happy to strap them on and enjoy a peaceful sleep. On the volvo buses where the seat belts have been removed, I was sliding ahead every time the bus braked which was annoying. In a frontal collision, it would have been even severe and might have led to a broken leg or thigh too. Sadly the government authorities are showing more interest towards banning harmless concepts like ride sharing and stuff leaving such potential threats to loom around

[Acharya]

God help us all, while BMTC drivers are busy watching videos on the drive-

Driver found watching film on cell at the wheels - http://toi.in/x7r3Eb/a20ei

Mods- it is not an accident news, yet. Please remove if inappropriate.

[blackbandit]

Incident took place early morning today in mulki highway near mangalore. The vehicle was a brand new etios liva with temp registration. The vehicle seems to have hit a barricade and the driver lost control in the curve. Seems to be a case of either overspeeding or driving without sufficient sleep.

[Leoshashi]

Got this as a Whatsapp forward. No further details.



Drive safe guys!!

Regards,
Shashi

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'm surised that that tow truck hasn't got its front wheels in the air. It can't be very stable.

But... Whatsapp? hey, it might never have happened

[avisidhu]

A lawyer lost his life while test driving a Harley:

http://indianexpress.com/article/cit...-control-dies/

"A 53-year-old lawyer died after he lost control of a Harley Davidson bike he was “testing” and crashed into a barrier on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway around 6 am on Sunday. Gurgaon Police identified the victim as Sunil Seth. His friend Neeraj Sethi, who was riding pillion, sustained minor injuries. Both men were wearing helmets. The two had rented a bike from a company on Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road, and had driven from Gurgaon to Palwal with a bikers’ group called the Harley Owners’ Group (HOG). They were on their way back when the incident took place"

[centaur]

Child run over by sister’s school bus

CHENNAI: A two-and-a-half-year-old girl, seeing off her older sister as she left for school, died after the bus her sister boarded ran over her near Medavakkam on Tuesday morning.

Samiksha, a resident of Vembuliamman Koil Street in Gowrivakkam, accompanied her sister, Tataksha, a Class I student, to the gate of their house while she was leaving for school by bus when the accident took place, investigators said.

Samiksha's mother Easwari, a homemaker, told police officers that the bus came to pick up Tataksha at 8.50am as usual, when the accident occurred.

"As soon as the bus arrived and the driver honked, Samiksha, who was having breakfast, ran to the gate," an investigating officer said. "Easwari was helping Tataksha board the bus. She had handed over the school bag to the child and did not see Samiksha standing nearby."

"Easwari usually bolted the gate to prevent Samiksha from wandering out," he said. "On Tuesday, however, the gate was open because she did not see the child outside near the bus."

Neither did the bus driver. As soon as Tataksha got on, he accelerated and the bus crushed Samiksha, who fell under the vehicle's wheels.

"She died on the spot," the officer said.

Easwari heard Samiksha cry out and tried to rescue her. With the help of some neighbours, Easwari rushed Samiksha to a hospital nearby and then to Chromepet Government Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Angry neighbours dragged the driver — who police identified as Chandrasekaran — out of the bus and tried to beat him up. But he extricated himself and fled. The Chromepet traffic police registered a case under IPC Section 304A (causing death due to negligence), seized the vehicle and launched a search for the driver.

"Because Samiksha was so small and was close to the vehicle, the driver probably could not see her from his seat in the bus," the investigating officer said. "We have seized his licence and formed special teams to nab him."

Samiksha's father Sudakaran, an employee of a private company, was away at work at the time.

"Samiksha was an active child and we loved her," Kanchana, a neighbour, said. "She was so lively that her mother would at times have to hold her tight to prevent her from rushing to the road."

Officials at the school Tataksha attended had leased the bus from a private firm to transport children, the officer said.

Source

Should the driver of the bus be blamed in a such a case?

[RajeVenu]

Originally Posted by centaur

Should the driver of the bus be blamed in a such a case?

Yes and No. yes for being negligent and no because there was no way for him to realise a 2year old to be under the bus.

There are certain requirements of a school bus which we in India seldom follow, I have seen school buses with a certain bar attached to the front door that a child walking in front of the bus when It has stopped can only do so at 3-4 ft away from the bumper thereby in view of the driver. Also the sides and rear of the bus have grill/ mesh or sheet extended down from the body to prevent small children to walk/move under the bus. Our school buses do not have kid safe seats leave alone seat belts. Till such time the laws do not mandate strict requirements for the school buses and enforce stricter punishments for defaulting these incidents will not be uncommon..

I have seen overloaded/rashly driven/ traffic rule violating buses/omnis/rickshaws/aces etc that send chill through the spine seeing the life of little ones at risk, how low can one stoop to save money as parents or for increasing profits as operators.

In many countries it is against the law to cross(in car/bike) from either side of a parked school bus, but in our country no such law exists.

[BenjiRoss]

Originally Posted by centaur

Should the driver of the bus be blamed in a such a case?

Sad as the incident is, I doubt the driver could have done much.
The way to prevent these incidents :
- Every child needs to be supervised.
- a conductor or helper helps board the children and prevents anyone else from coming close to the bus.
- appropriately placed mirrors to look at potential blind spots before a bus starts.

[aaggoswami]

There very little the bus driver could have done. In such a large vehicle, there are many spots where the driver's vision can't reach. That is the reason why the conductor/another person will be out helping the driver of bus navigate when it is reversing. Here the bus moved forward, but wonder if there was a conductor to watch out for anything abnormal (which conductors used to do when I was in school). Couple of small blasts of horn before moving was also a routine where I studied.
A small child standing near wheel or just in front of wheel will be very, very difficult to spot.

Infact, I might sound harsh, but the kid was not supposed to anywhere near such a huge vehicle without any supervision. The article clearly mentions that usually the gate is bolted, but on the unfortunate day it was left open.

Even in my society when I am taking my car out in evening when children are playing, I am doubly cautious. This is case of bus, driven well on schedule of school. Its parent's responsibility to keep small kids away from vehicles, irrespective of size.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Its parent's responsibility to keep small kids away from vehicles, irrespective of size.

I fully agree with this point. When it is very well known to even the neighbors that the child is hyper active and the mother has to hold the child tight to control, mother should have taken care to bolt the door when she leaves the house to onboard the school kid.

In my view, there is no negligent driving from driver's side since the bus started from rest with zero speed. So, if the driver could have seen the child in the vicinity of the bus, he would have definitely honked and shouted at the mother.

All said and done, a mother has lost a child. this is an unbearable sorrow for parents that will haunt for their entire life. I pray that they get strength to bear this pain

[centaur]

Originally Posted by RajeVenu

Yes and No. yes for being negligent and no because there was no way for him to realise a 2year old to be under the bus.

I dont completely agree here because he could have been called negligent if he had seen the kid some where around and still started the bus but in this case no one, including the parents of the kid saw her. So I am really not sure if this can be termed as negligence on part of the driver and if it is, then the parents too are equally negligent. The problem/mindset most people on the roads in India have is that, they think their responsibility is someone else's responsibility. Barring this scenario (the kid was too young to understand all this), I would say that when people are not bothered about the safety of your own life, why should someone else take that burden on his/her head? Sadly the laws are also formulated in this way.

Rash driving is a completely different ball game and in that case the driver should definitely be held response but here I dont think that was the case

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Here the bus moved forward, but wonder if there was a conductor to watch out for anything abnormal (which conductors used to do when I was in school). Couple of small blasts of horn before moving was also a routine where I studied.

I guess in this case even the conductor would not have noticed because as I have seen with most/all school buses, the conductor is generally busy getting the kids in and their vision is generally limited to the side of the bus they are standing on.

I had seen a video once long back, where in a toddler once crawled under a parked SUV. A little while later, the driver walks up to the SUV, starts and tries to do a 3 point turn. In the meanwhile the parents of the toddler also come around the SUV searching for the kid. The driver moves forward in an arc and reverses for some reason. Then suddenly the driver comes out of the car completely panicked. and starts looking below the vehicle. In the meanwhile noticing the driver shout, the parents also come running and pull the toddler out.

The kid was completely unharmed and was actually his playful self, smiling all the way. Even in this case personally I dont think the driver can be blamed. Yes there can be n number of counter arguments saying that we should always check under the car and even knock on the bonnet (to alert/remove any animals which might be in the engine bay) but at the end of the day we all know that majority of us dont do this, primarily because we dont think something like this can happen to us and secondly because we are generally in a hurry to get in and drive away.