[Stribog]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

This is no accident as the title says. This tragic incident is an act of cold-blooded murder by the bus driver, fueled by road rage and frustration.

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Am surprised more people didn't catch on to this. The first video doesn't provide the context but the second longer one does.

From this bit at least it's clear there was some problem between the bikers and the bus, as you pointed out, I too kept noticing the Bike brake check the bus repeatedly.

The actions of the bus driver is pure murder but come on, you owe yourself and your close ones the responsibility to get back home safely to them. Stop picking fights with a vehicle that is 60x your weight class!

Move to the shoulder, let the bus pass (if he is harassing you), curse him loudly even if you want to vent. If your BP is running high, stop, take a 5 min breather and move on with your life.

This was prima facie a case of a bike trying to take on a bus...and lost. Forget everything else, we know how fast, agile and torquey bikes are viz a state transport bus, this was a Duke. If the biker wished it so, he could have put a km between him and the bus in a matter of less than a minute and then coasted at cruising speed, the bus would have never caught up.

40% of the blame in my books would be on the biker.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by harimkd

Kerala is infamous for road accidents and bad driving habits, just like any other place in India. Road rage is also very common in Kerala, where there are mostly narrow roads with heavy traffic. But a rare road rage event and its result caught on dashcam become heartbreaking news in which a State RTC bus was involved in killing two youths aged around 24 years.

Excellent course of action!
You've brought the truth to light & perhaps ensured the otherwise 'innocent' trucker does not get blamed for this!

What brand dashcam do you use?
The video quality is pretty good!!!

[giri1.8]

As long as they have strong union, no strict action can be taken. If this driver gets punished, then there will be huge strike, media will focus on how general public is suffering, government will step in and let the guy go after few rounds of talks.

This is what we get, when we can't make a group accountable for their actions, it's almost like they are above the law.

[barefeetdriver]

Originally Posted by Samba

I still believe there is some humanity left!

Few years back, while on a trip from Chennai to Trichy on a State transport bus, the bus driver stopped the bus at the top of a tall flyover bridge for NO reason. It was around 2pm and most of the vehicles went around our bus.

He stopped not on the shoulder but right in the middle of the the inner lane. And he kept the bus standstill for a long time. At least 2-3 minutes. Most of the passengers were asleep including myself and woke up thinking it was a rest stop. By the time we realized what was happening the bus started moving. Great right?

Nope, the moron driver did the same thing again at the next bridge somewhere near Perambalur. And again the lorries and other vehicles went around us.

We passengers whispered amongst ourselves but were too afraid to confront the "driver". In hindsight we should've marched to the front, opened that little door and confronted the driver immediately. But we, as in none of the passengers did nothing. Perhaps it was our ingrained fear of confronting a "government employee"...

My guess is the driver wanted to take in the scenery from a high vantage point, or maybe spot his house. Or was nuts.

[OffRoadFun]

Very sad to see two lives lost like this. Om Shanti!

Yes, it looked like the bus driver was indeed frustrated with brake checking and there is an element of road rage here (though no justification). Still, of course, road rage can not justify killing of two lives.

At a higher level, I see such incidents as lack of development of road manners in our country. KSRTC bus driver(s) must of gotten away with impunity with hundreds of such incidents earlier I believe, the biker(s) must have cut-off many such vehicles earlier, again with impunity with no enforcement ever. Statistically itself, left unchecked, eventually it will lead to such accidents one day and no wonder India loses most number of people in road accidents worldwide even though vehicle ownership is low in the country.

But hey, the policymakers are sleeping, the traffic cops are busy collecting bribes mostly and the value of life of people is getting degraded every day. So sad! We need to value lives, need to spend money and efforts to bring a change.

We need to have some highway patrol to enforce rules in countryside highways.

[vandemanw]

The kerala MVD and KSRTC make no sense to me at all. Have been visiting kerala for the past 14 years. NEVER travelled in a KSRTC bus. Driving within the state is a nightmare especially towards night. Not just the buses, it's everything- cars, two wheelers. Bangalore traffic is a breeze compared to this. Found that truck drivers seem to be the most disciplined of the lot in Kerala.

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

This is the reason there is something called blood money in Gulf countries. Not that it would bring back any peace - but it scares the crap out of anyone doing such a move on public roads. You will be jailed for generations and penalties will run into next generation before such shit can even arise in the drivers' head.

Sadly, the driver is already back at his home now, may jolly well be reading this post on his android and sipping tea!

Seriously? You are advocating driver's next generation pay for this action?

Individual own their actions, that's it. As regards to deterrent, a lot of countries have big deterrent under even English Common law. Tribal laws are not needed for that.
Even India has some, problem being it's only on paper.

[kiku007]

Kudos to the OP for doing the right thing.

A biker isn't going to get a good outcome by brake-checking a bus at night time with a truck thrown in the mix.

End of the day, both road rage and vigilantism (aka engaging aggressive drivers and trying to teach them a lesson) are not worth it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idIB...ture=emb_title

The Jalopnik article: https://jalopnik.com/this-honda-acco...e-a-1848477911

[FiatDiesel]

Very disturbing accident with young lives lost. Our country will have numerous such examples and it boils down to one simple behaviour which can keep you safe: keep your ego at home and drive defensive & safe. Remember that anger and panic cloud our judgment. You might be big shot but can end up dead for nothing. Law & order, court cases after death won’t ease suffering of your loved ones, better reach home alive. Let that idiot driver have his way, he or she doesn’t deserves your lesson, Infact immediately make safe distance from that vehicle. It’s just like staying away from that aggressive street dog to avoid being bitten.

[vishnurp99]

This is an unfortunate and shocking accident. A young life was lost and the other survivor would have recieved injuries. My heart goes out to the families who were impacted.However I don't believe that the ksrtc driver would have wanted to kill the young chaps or even hit them. He just wanted to scare them and get his satisfaction out of that.

After all, these very ksrtc drivers drive in some of the narrowest and most crowded roads in India. Most of these folks are also over qualified for their jobs and probably have degrees in commerce or biology or engineering. The safety of the govt pay cheque and the kerala's famous unionisation and lack of good private jobs ensures that many of these folks are extremely frustrated but they stay on in their dead end jobs and show their prowess on the roads.

I really think this is an extreme manifestation of an ongoing institutional failure. It's probably not fair to look at this as some kind of cold blooded murder but really an unfortunate incident which should be a wake up call for the authorities.

[LordSharan]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

This is no accident as the title says. This tragic incident is an act of cold-blooded murder by the bus driver, fueled by road rage and frustration.

As far as I see, there was no reason for the bus driver to turn right, the route ahead of him was fairly clear to overtake both bus and bikers if he wanted to just *overtake* them.

It's fairly clear he just wanted to mess with the bikers, which led to the bikers losing their life. I hope the bus driver gets tried with criminal charges.

[Sarath_]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

This is the reason there is something called blood money in Gulf countries. Not that it would bring back any peace - but it scares the crap out of anyone doing such a move on public roads. You will be jailed for generations and penalties will run into next generation before such shit can even arise in the drivers' head.

Sadly, the driver is already back at his home now, may jolly well be reading this post on his android and sipping tea!

Having lived in the Gulf briefly myself, I had completely forgotten about this. I was a child at the time and found this to be a quite a archaic eye for an eye law or rather an eye for a finger where blood money is concerned. But it sure was effective.

However life itself is highly regarded there making any payouts incredibly expensive that is if the victims family accept it. Second they are incredibly respectful or scared of the law so most of such accidents are exactly that "accidents". They repent and usually the victims family can see that and they are able to forgive them.

Such is not the case here. The video itself shows the complete apathy for life, no fear of consequences and disregard for the law.

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

Seriously? You are advocating driver's next generation pay for this action?

Individual own their actions, that's it. As regards to deterrent, a lot of countries have big deterrent under even English Common law. Tribal laws are not needed for that.
Even India has some, problem being it's only on paper.

Trust me this law is incredibly effective. I cannot imagine the number of lives it has saved. I say this more so because these countries are made up of 80% expats from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines. These are our own people who go there and transform into the epitome of driver discipline.

The only difference is the fear of the law. The blood money part, the statement about generations are irrelevant as it is so rare that each accident is actually reported in the new.

[fawad0222]

Fear of law is paramount and the lack of which leads to majority of crimes in our country. The driver must be punished and punished quickly. RIP young souls!!

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by Sarath_

Having lived in the Gulf briefly myself, I had completely forgotten about this. I was a child at the time and found this to be a quite a archaic eye for an eye law or rather an eye for a finger where blood money is concerned. But it sure was effective.

However life itself is highly regarded there making any payouts incredibly expensive that is if the victims family accept it. Second they are incredibly respectful or scared of the law so most of such accidents are exactly that "accidents". They repent and usually the victims family can see that and they are able to forgive them.

Such is not the case here. The video itself shows the complete apathy for life, no fear of consequences and disregard for the law.



Trust me this law is incredibly effective. I cannot imagine the number of lives it has saved. I say this more so because these countries are made up of 80% expats from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines. These are our own people who go there and transform into the epitome of driver discipline.

The only difference is the fear of the law. The blood money part, the statement about generations are irrelevant as it is so rare that each accident is actually reported in the new.

At the risk of digressing into a debate on this sad thread, here are my two cents:
I have not lived in gulf so can't comment but I believe it is "effective" as you said but my opinion is formed by some articles in media about blood money (a bit negative to be honest). I believe, blood money works more for native Arabs and less for poor migrants.
Having lived in the US, I can tell the consequences and fear of hitting and killing someone are no small there too. The lawsuits and sentences can be very harsh. It can be financially devastating too. And that system works for all, rich can't get away with lesser prison sentence if proved guilty, like blood money.

But yes, I agree life is valued very low in India. The apathy and ignorance of all is mind boggling. Hope it changes.

[PJ1987]

Thanks a lot Hari for collecting and submitting evidence to the authorities. This is a horrible incident. Hope the culprit receives the punishment he deserves.