[sa_kiran]

I have traveled several times by KSRTC Airavata between Mumbai/Pune - Mysore/Bangalore. Their drivers never overspeed and never give any scope for complaint. No wonder, they have almost no accidents.

During the last travel, I checked the speed of the bus using one the GPS apps on phone. The bus was driven between 65-75 kmph on empty stretches of Mumbai-Pune expressway.

I switched to KSRTC after a few rides in private buses, Sharma (Pune-Bangalore) and Neeta and other private operators (Mumbai-Pune). With these experiences, I will wait for for hours/days to travel in government buses. They are better maintained and properly regulated.

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

I have traveled several times by KSRTC Airavata between Mumbai/Pune - Mysore/Bangalore. Their drivers never overspeed and never give any scope for complaint. No wonder, they have almost no accidents.

During the last travel, I checked the speed of the bus using one the GPS apps on phone. The bus was driven between 65-75 kmph on empty stretches of Mumbai-Pune expressway.

I switched to KSRTC after a few rides in private buses, Sharma (Pune-Bangalore) and Neeta and other private operators (Mumbai-Pune). With these experiences, I will wait for for hours/days to travel in government buses. They are better maintained and properly regulated.

Totally agree! I use KSRTC's Airavat Mumbai - Bangalore service on a regular basis. The buses are well maintained with necessary equipment like hammers always in place. Their drivers are a bit slower but much safer than those of private operators. Even with the slightly lower speeds, they are always on time and have never given me a reason to complain. I will not use any other operator.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by rkg

Diesel do not catch fire that easily. Most probable cause might be contraband cargo being carried by these operators....

From a news report in "The Hindu"

...Haveri Superintendent of Police N. Shashi Kumar told The Hindu that after hitting the bridge, the bus moved for about 150 mts when the driver applied the brakes and caught fire. Three died on the spot and four others died on the way to hospital due to burn injuries. Many passengers suffered fracture and related injuries too during their attempt to jump out of the bus through emergency exit windows. There was no inflammable material inside the bus however, the SP said.

[raju2512]

When you say safe, it means safe under the conditions in which it is operated. Volvo should have factored in the Indian conditions while designing the bus for Indian operations. It is high time that Volvo puts in speed control systems so that the vehicle can't go above a certain speed (say 100 kmph).

Volvo can't sell buses in India and say that they are not operated under European conditions.

Guna - I don't think the fuel tank and the fuel was the cause of the fire as diesel will not be combustible without compression (as you may know)

Diesel will catch fire if there is an ignition even at room pressure

[arun_josie]

Even couple of KSRTC buses caught fire during the last 10 days, luckily no causalities and hence it didn't make the head lines.

1) Semi-luxury KSRTC bas caught fire last last week.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...?homepage=true

2) KSRTC Airavat class bus, Mysore-Bangalore
http://karnatakamuslims.com/portal/a...escape-unhurt/

[Warwithwheels]

Here's an article in Firstpost.com that adds an interesting angle to the VOLVO Story:

Link to full Article

First up, let’s get one thing clear. As compared to many Indian ‘luxury’ buses that are nothing more than a bus body plonked on top of a truck chassis, Volvo Buses are built on chassis’ that are designed for a bus. Incidentally, Volvo also used a third-party bus body builder (Jaico) during its early years, but it seems like since the last 5-6 years Volvo builds all bus bodies internally, given that Volvo Buses India was set up for the specific purpose of building bus bodies. In fact, the company was set up in 2006 as a JV with Jaico Automobiles, an Azad company, one of the largest traditional bus builders in India.........

[sumitdongerkery]

IMO, cause of the accident would be due to major/minor cut on the fuel tank due to the impact and the diesel clearly leaking onto the rear wheels. And at the speeds which Volvo travels I am sure the rear break drums would be red hot. This would be sufficient for the bus to catch fire. I mean this what the reports indicated as well that bus caught fire after 150 mts of the impact.

Again assuming this to the reason, it can happen to any buses which do high or medium speed.

I am a big fan of volvo engineering (German engineering) and would be really unhappy if this has something to do with their engineering.

Your thoughts!!

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by poloman

This is nothing but blaming the victims. Do you mean to say passengers have to wake up the whole night to check whether the driver is over speeding? Why can' the authorities install speed governors instead?
What about Volvo's liability? Do they design buses which catch fire every time there is a major accident?

I am not blaming the "victims" ...I am asking people to act more responsibly ! Why will anyone hesitate to try and talk sense to someone who might risking so many lives with dangerous driving ?

I dunno if this is just another assumption made by the media or whether it was a fact that this bus was overspeeding . If this is true , then why were passengers keeping quiet ?

If the driver wasnt speeding , the impact would have been lesser and maybe the fuel tank would have been intact.

In the absence of strict laws as deterrents, only vigiliant passengers or other road users can help reduce these incidents .

[prmd_cochin]

A lot of these inter state buses are said to be carrying alcohol to avoid inter state taxes. It could be this that catches fire initially that leads diesel to explode.

[joe1980]

A numb question, are Diesel tanks prone to explosion? If yes then what is the reason behind it? With so much advancement in technology and considering the fact that Diesel vehicles existed for atleast the past 60 years which is a good enough time to invent some preventive measures around the fuel tanks, why such explosions happen?

[srishiva]

I think the primary reason which is the accident needs to be scrutinized more. Like sunfilms, the speed governors should be inbuilt in the bus and they should have a good data recorders.

Also, Volvo should be forced to find the cause at the earliest and they should re-design or place the diesel tank in a better position or something. Unlike other buses, I think most of the components are crammed towards the rear end to open up a clean baggage area for the most of the length of the bus.

[mnvvishwa]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[mercedised]

I heard that all the Volvo bus drivers are trained at the Volvo facility by Volvo company. They are given training for high-speed driving and other information about the bus operations. These buses cost a bomb! I see no reason that the bus operators would give the charge of bus to a lame driver who has migrated from normal Tata/AL to Volvo.

[phamilyman]

Guys,

Let us understand the basics here.

Overspeeding is hardly the full picture and its a VERY lazy explanation. Let's break it down:
1. Tank bursting on hitting the divider is all about the impact horizontal velocity - which has as much to do with how badly the driver misjudged the curve / overtake (let's remember 9th class physics here) as pure speeds (it is a product of both).
2. That said, we need to apply common sense and dig one level deeper. This is about a total lack of idiot proofing the vehicle. This is India - bus operators have and will forever have to make risky overtaking maneuvers even if they are at 80 and NOT speeding at 120. What I am curious is twofold:
2.a Is it just more reporting (due to more fatal accidents) that is leading to our perception of such incidents being common?
2.b I mean, Maruti sells cars with fibre glass/plastic fuel tanks. But we don't hear of swifts burning up in accidents all the time. Hence, the other thing to worry is whether their quality standards or tank specifications have deteriorated in recent year. This is very unlikely for Volvo or any other good manufacturer but NOT implausible. As I have heard from innumerable friends in the auto industry- Annual cost reduction is the name of the game esp in India. It could just be bad design or not thinking through fully the ramifications. It is anybody's guess - but the government should investigate.

It took one battery fire on the dreamliner to ground the entire jet worldwide. While there is no independent investigation of all these bus fires. Clearly Indian mango man lives are irrelevant for the Government. The ball is in the government's court - not just Volvo. I am feeling disgusted as an Indian citizen with the government's inaction. If only we in India could haul all operators and manufacturers to court for class action lawsuits for all such deaths, things would sort themselves out in a few years.

PS: If its the luggage compartment that ignites first - even that is BAD design and needs to be idiotproofed - ESP if Volvo India is building bodies itself.

I anyways prefer to drive - now I'm convinced that taking buses is not that great an idea (something I did often while in Ahmedabad as a student).

[Dieseldunk]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

I have traveled several times by KSRTC Airavata between Mumbai/Pune - Mysore/Bangalore. Their drivers never overspeed and never give any scope for complaint.
I switched to KSRTC after a few rides in private buses,

+1 to that. I usually hit the road for travel and always have seen that KSRTC volvo goes sedate or even speed and does an occassional speed burst. Maintainence of volvo by KSRTC is commendable.

Originally Posted by sumitdongerkery

IMO, cause of the accident would be due to major/minor cut on the fuel tank due to the impact and the diesel clearly leaking onto the rear wheels. I) and would be really unhappy if this has something to do with their engineering.

Your thoughts!!

German engineers are precision freaks and am sure the design of the tank is fine . may be the dividers we have on our highway is not scientifically designed (just like many ofthe speed breakers which tend to become shoulder/hip breakers). This is MHO and could be totally wrong.

Originally Posted by mercedised

I heard that all the Volvo bus drivers are trained at the Volvo facility by Volvo company. I see no reason that the bus operators would give the charge of bus to a lame driver who has migrated from normal Tata/AL to Volvo.

The Volvo company offers the bus only if you agree to use a volvo trained driver. Good part. But then accidents happen due to negligent or unintentional judgement errors predominantly and sometimes the way the pvt volvo guys fly on the road makes you feel scared for dear life.