[DesertLynx34]

As someone who primarily rides a bike daily on Kerala roads I can quite confidently say that, we have some of the worst roads and road users in the history of human transport. I've started rides intending to calm down and enjoy the pleasure of riding only to return more stressed and furious than ever.

Roads - are just bad on many fronts. Road surface quality, so called National Highways with portions that aren't wide enough to accommodate 2 standard sized buses at the same time, traffic density, most multi-state highways going right through city/town centres.

Road users - Bully KSRTCs, equally if not worse private buses (I did meet many who considered that the rare good part of the extended-lockdowns here was the bus-free roads), auto rickshaw drivers who make you wonder if they do actually have some secret ritual where they desecrate and burn a traffic law book when pledging allegiance to their union. Every other impatient user who can't even bother to stop their vehicle for the old man/lady standing confused at the crossing. And and and...the list goes on!

Special jury mention for - Kerala Water Authority.

[y448]

Got to know today that one of the passengers in the bus has come forward to testify hearing that police were going to let go the driver citing lack of evidence . This person mentioned that the bus driver tried to intentionally take the bus too close to the bike and hit them since they were brake checking the bus for some time.

This guy is a shop owner who went to collect stock in this bus. I sincerely hope that his shop does not get vandalized by unions or threatened to change his statement

[Akilan1597]

I don't think this narration is correct.

The bike's red light was on because he thought he could break and get behind (both truck and bus) before the bus swerves into him.

And his calculation may have been correct. If the bus hadn't braked and swerved right and had carried on forward this wouldn't have occurred. The break lights on the bus only indicate that the bus driver was determined not to let the bike get behind.

And biker starting the process of his death is just rubbish. Who know what kind of demons get triggered in whose mind.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

One can see the bike's brake light glow bright, even as the bus too brakes hard and his brake lights come on too (there is no obstruction ahead, and both lanes are clear - so obviously, the biker was harassing the bus driver).

The biker started the process of his own (and his pillion rider's) death by infuriating the bus driver to have a bit of fun.

[igemini]

https://youtu.be/Q17K8ZhhIcM

There is an update on this and it seems the driver has been charged with IPC 304.

[prince1a]

Yes. Link to the news. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news...bike-1.7398816

[rt363]

Any update about the bus driver now ?

[VeluM]

This is going to be a long, slow process but hopefully this thread will remain updated.

Happy to contribute to have this case taken forward to the appropriate conclusion, if required. The arrogance of Kerala bus drivers has to be seen to be believed.

[harimkd]

Yes... It will be a long process, but I am hopeful that justice will be served in the end.

As of now, a special team of police has completed the investigation and submitted the final charge sheet to the district court on June 2022. The case will be assigned to a bench and the trial is expected to start soon [at least a year from now].

The police had changed section 304A to section 304, which is a non-bailable offense. Immediately after the police changed the section, the driver applied for bail in court. Having cooperated with the investigation and having finished the investigation, bail was granted to him naturally. As of now, he is on bail and is awaiting the start of the trial.

MVD and KSRTC should have acted without waiting for the trial to start, but so far, their actions are unsatisfactory.

Just after the accident, KSRTC had started an internal inquiry into the matter, and its minister and MD promised that if the driver was found guilty, strict action would be taken. Despite changing the section in March and submitting the final charge sheet in June, KSRTC has yet to act. The driver is suspended for one year and if no further action is taken from the side of KSRTC, he could be re-joined by next February. Moreover, he is entitled to his full salary after completing the six-month suspension period, since the inquiry is not over. [Not sure loss-making and cash-crunched KSTRTC will do it, but it is the normal government procedure].

As soon as the police submitted the final charge sheet, the family obtained a copy through the court and submitted it to KSRTC. Two months are passed since but no update from KSRTC yet. Various means are tried by the family to find out the status and to press KSRTC for action.

The same is the story with MVD. The RTO of that locality had asked the driver to appear before them as part of their inquiry shortly after the accident occurred. Since they found fault with him (he cannot give a satisfactory explanation of the incident), they suspended his driving license for one year. They also send his license to Thrissur RTO, who issued the license to the driver, for further action. As he committed a dangerous act endangering passengers and the public, his license should be revoked by the licensing authority (Thrissur RTO) as per section 19(1) of the motor vehicle act. But it has not been done.

A copy of the final charge sheet and a complaint have already been submitted to Thrissur RTO. According to orders from the supreme court and Kerala high court, the licensing authority may revoke the driver's license once the police file a charge sheet, without awaiting the outcome of the trial. Accordingly, the MVD should act this way and hope they will act soon.
Will be updating the further details of the case shortly.

[harimkd]

There is finally some good news to report.

Following the incident, the family met with the transport minister, who had earlier promised to take strict action against the driver.

The Minister confirmed that the KSRTC driver responsible for the accident had finally been dismissed.. The action was taken on 16 December 2022, but it was not publicly disclosed for some strange reasons.

When we consider the influence of mighty trade unions, this is a very rare action from the KSRTC. Anyhow, it appears that a legal battle will soon commence in this matter.

Hope finally justice wil serve...

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by harimkd

There is finally some good news to report.

For people who cannot understand Malayalam, the citation goes something like this - "It is found that if this person continues his service, he can cause more accidents which may result in more lives being lost, can bring huge financial loses to the corporation and also dent the corporation's reputation. His explanation is found to be unacceptable and as per the show cause notice, Shri. Driver_Name is dismissed from service."

[rt363]

Time and again, I have always felt that the bus drivers (both private and public) needs to be given yearly training on this behalf. They are driving such a mammoth vehicle and the subconscious feeling of power is to be controlled.
Merely dismissing the cold driver may not be a long term solution.

Recently had an incident with a Kerala SRTC. In a red light, the KSRTC unfortunately got stuck behind a tanker lorry in the left lane. Once the lights turned green, he wanted to quickly steer to the right lane and overtake. My car was almost halfway through the process of overtaking KSRTC. Fortunately I could fit in the gap left by him! I had to brake hard and stop for him to overtake. Right after this, there was bus station where he had to stop and I followed him to check on the car and to talk to him 'peacefully' about his callousness attitude.
Upon asking him about the overtake, he had two justifications:
1. he was carrying 100s of passengers
2. he had to cover some 300-500 kms in a day

I totally understand his stress driving in Kerala roads, but the kind of approach towards another driver is WRONG. They don't care about any other vehicle on the road. If they are on the road, all vehicles must ply according to their will and not as per the law.
Rather than just punishing the culprit, hope proper training and insights are shared amongst the drivers and staff for a better road culture and events resulting in death of two souls never happen.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by rt363

Upon asking him about the overtake, he had two justifications:
1. he was carrying 100s of passengers
2. he had to cover some 300-500 kms in a day

This is mostly correct for private and KSRTC. The problem is much broader where there are several buses departing in a matter of minutes and each one has to compete with the others to find the passengers and complete the trip on time while also generating revenue. This in turn encourages them to drive rashly and avoid being disqualified.

[askakhr]

This appears to be a deliberate act of murder rather than an accident. The bus driver had sufficient room on the left side to avoid the biker, but chose to sandwich them, resulting in the deaths of two people. It seems likely that the driver was motivated win a personal battle of ego. Therefore, the driver should face charges for murder rather than for an accident. This incident cannot be considered an accident by any means.