[vivek95]

Continuing with the rear ending saga, I would like to share a minor accident story that I happened to be a part of.

I was travelling one night in a KSRTC Rajahamsa luxury bus a few months back on NH4. I was sitting in second row aisle seat, right hand side. The bus was visibly aged but still in fairly good condition. Right from the start, Mr.Driver seemed to be too impatient in his driving. Once on the 6 lane NH4, we picked up speeds hovering 80kmph. After a while, there was this big truck ahead of us in the middle lane. Cars flashing lights and moving fast from right lane. We slowed down but the impatientness of our driver was clearly seen, he started tailgating the truck. There was another truck on left most lane. so we could not overtake from that side too. Not sure what happened to the truck in front of us, there was probably some obstruction or something ahead of him that he started moving towards right and then shifted back to middle lane. Seeing the movements of the truck, I was looking at our impatient driver and saying in my mind - " wait, wait, don't hurry.. Why you are driving so close to him.. Keep safe distance.. Let him first give a clear way..Don't try to cut like that into right lane.. He might slam brakes or start moving to right lane again... " . I mean to say, I was very much anticipating some surprises from the truck, so if I had been driving the bus, I would have waited for a while before overtaking. But Mr.bus Driver was too restless to control his tailgating and veering off actions. He might have been sort of thinking - "I will not reduce my speed and sneak into right lane, he will move" . But what happened now was exactly as I had thought. We tried to cut into right lane while still tailgating, the truck ahead too slightly moved into right lane and then bang.. ! he slammed brakes. We badly hit the median on our right side, got pushed and rear ended the truck badly. The speed of bus while this happened might be around 40kmph and the truck instantly started moving. So, nothing much happened except for cracking of windshield and some minor dents on the front facia. Had we rammed into the truck at 80 or 90 - God forbid, Mr. driver, conductor and first row passengers all would have been goners. I would have just had some blunt hits to my arms or body. Thankfully, by the grace of Almighty, no one was even slightly injured. Since everything seemed fine, driver continues moving without stopping. But why he continued driving without stopping to check left a question mark on me.

Our driver was surely infuriated. The truck sped fast. We continue at 80 on the superb 6 laner NH4. A few kms ahead, I realised that our driver has not let it gone, but actually wants to block the truck somehow. We caught up with the truck which was now in left most lane. Our driver went ahead and started shouting at the trucker asking him to pull over and started blocking him. Even this maneouvre was risky. But the truck fellow instantly slows down and pulls over off the road into the service lane. We stop obliquely in front of him. Driver, conductor jump out of the bus and run towards the truck. We passengers too follow to find out that the truck driver has fled the spot leaving his helper alone. God knows why he fled ? We could see him frantically crossing the highway running. Caught hold of the helper now but what could that poor fellow do. Some passengers who had no idea that our driver was equally at fault started threatening the helper - what logic is this ?? I and some other passengers told the conductor that it was the fault of our driver as well, so we will let it go. Conductor is innocent silent natured person, doesn't say anything. A group of 3 hot blooded college guys use choicest Kannada swear words to that helper. Poor chap calls up his driver but he doesn't receive the call. Mr.bus Driver got into the truck cabin and picked up a spanner. Gets down, deflates all tyres , removed a spare tyre and puts it in the underbelly of bus.

Well according to me, it was mainly our mistake. The trucker was wrong too but neither was our bus driver any saint. This accident was bound to happen because of his recklessness. But our driver is not guilty conscious even one bit, he shouts at the helper and stole the spare tyre from truck.

I am a staunch believer of "Karma" philosophy. But Karma rarely acts instantly and what happened later was a striking example of instant Karma results. Read further. Sorry for a very long post.

We leave the truck helper stranded in the middle of night. Even if his driver had returned after we left, they cannot move because all tyres are deflated. After this drama, we resume journey. All passengers are wide awake now. Just 5 minutes later, someone from back seat starts shouting as to stop the bus. Driver pulls over, conductor goes behind, but whoever screamed is not ready to clearly tell why they asked to stop the bus. They were acting really really dumb and just went on saying - sound, smoke, fire, luggage sound and what not. None of us is unable to understand their problem. Meanwhile, those hot blooded college guys want to alight from the bus because they are utterly confused as to what the hell is happening after all. The one who screamed is not exactly sure why he asked to stop the bus. Some of us tell the conductor and driver to get down and check if anything is wrong with some part of the bus but they quietly refused to do so. Journey resumes with everyone being greatly perplexed. Another 5 mins and this time few more back seat passengers start screaming all at once asking to the stop the bus. Ahh !! Bahut ho gaya, I also want to jump out of this bus now, can't understand what is going around. I tell the conductor to stop and get down and check if anything is wrong with the rear side of the bus. Driver stops and thankfully the passengers this time say it out clearly that there are flames seen over the rear right tyre. Bewildered, we all instantly got down and saw that the rear tyre had completely burst out !!! Few pax claimed that they saw large flames of fire coming out.

Since the bus was parked on left lane and all people started crowding on the highway which was very very risky, I ask everyone to get on the other side of bus or stay clear off the highway and told the conductor to get the bus on service lane. Many deadly accidents have happened when people stood on highway around brokendown vehicles on Mumbai--Pune Expressway at night. I myself moved to the side, some of them followed but most did not. I was just praying God that nothing untoward happens to them. The way they were standing on the highway was like inviting death to themselves.

Anyways, it was now clear that nothing could be done with our bus. There was no spare tyre too available with us. Look at that - Our driver stole the truck's spare tyre ( when he too was at fault ) and now we have our own tyre bursted "Karma" at its best !! We all were transferred to another bus just a short while later.

End of the story.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Continuing with the rear ending saga, I would like to share a minor accident story that I happened to be a part of.


Well according to me, it was mainly our mistake. The trucker was wrong too but neither was our bus driver any saint. This accident was bound to happen because of his recklessness. But our driver is not guilty conscious even one bit, he shouts at the helper and stole the spare tyre from truck.

Great story. It is fortunate that everyone got out of it without any harm. Why are you assigning some blame to the truck driver? It was the bus that didn't keep a safe distance from the vehicle in the front. The person rear ending is always at fault. What should the truck do if it encounters an obstacle? It has to brake.

I fully agree with your concern regarding people standing on the highway. People in India are very careless about this. So many times people stop on a highway instead of moving off the road and then they stand around as if they were in a garden even if it is pitch dark.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Vivek95! Incredible story, incredibly written.

Moving your post out as it deserves an independent thread .

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Our driver was surely infuriated.
Mr.bus Driver got into the truck cabin and picked up a spanner. Gets down, deflates all tyres , removed a spare tyre and puts it in the underbelly of bus.

Well according to me, it was mainly our mistake. The trucker was wrong too but neither was our bus driver any saint.

You are right, from what I can make out the fault lies with the Bus driver.
Almost entirely.

Presuming that everyone drives in forward direction and everyone's eyes are in front of his head:
The driver at the front is free to move left or right at his will. Of course after indicating his intent.

The driver at the rear is mandated to take into account the actions of front driver and act consequently (or the more intelligent people act proactively). That means whether he slams brakes or takes a right/left turn.

How can the driver in front be responsible for maintaining distance between vehicles!?

Now talking about the front driver veering left/right.
Yes it may be wrong, especially if one doesn't give indication.
But well, what about something like encountering a person on the middle of the road? Surely saving such person is of greatest importance.
If the driver veers right and the IDIOT behind him was maintaining appropriate distance, there wouldn't be any accident.

Driver pulls over, conductor goes behind, but whoever screamed is not ready to clearly tell why they asked to stop the bus. They were acting really really dumb and just went on saying - sound, smoke, fire, luggage sound and what not. None of us is unable to understand their problem.

The one who screamed is not exactly sure why he asked to stop the bus. Some of us tell the conductor and driver to get down and check if anything is wrong with some part of the bus but they quietly refused to do so.

I am quite bemused, why were the passengers not able to explain at the first instance what was wrong.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by alpha1

I am quite bemused, why were the passengers not able to explain at the first instance what was wrong.

This is what struck me at first too. Forget fire, even there was smoke or burning smell it would been reported. Surprised that it took so long for them to realise that the tyre was burst and fire was there (presumably).

[Santoshbhat]

Some of these KSRTC bus drivers are agents of Yamraj. I remember one journey in a KSRTC Volvo where the driver was driving so recklessly that I could not sleep all night. I went into his cabin and asked him to drive sensibly to which he replied - "NO, I have 15 years experience and this is how I drive" No other passenger joined me in talking some sense to the driver. When I said I will put in a written complaint to the corporation both the conductor and driver laughed at me. I did put in that complaint but got no response as expected. They know that their employee unions are too strong and performance evaluation anyway is an alien word in Govt. organisations.

[Blow Horn Ok]

Nicely written vivek. The breakdown of the bus must be the only one in which you must have been smiling instead of worrying for lost time or getting impatient.

Don't know what is with the bus drivers, even the private ones drive like a missile on single lane state highways and blow irritating pressure horns repeatedly while tail gating that I feel to pull over give nice ones under their ears. Even the conductors stand near the swinging exit door and keeps shouting at the two wheelers and rickshaws.

[vivek95]

Thank you GTO

Originally Posted by alpha1

You are right, from what I can make out the fault lies with the Bus driver.
Almost entirely.

Presuming that everyone drives in forward direction and everyone's eyes are in front of his head:
The driver at the front is free to move left or right at his will. Of course after indicating his intent.

The driver at the rear is mandated to take into account the actions of front driver and act consequently (or the more intelligent people act proactively). That means whether he slams brakes or takes a right/left turn.

How can the driver in front be responsible for maintaining distance between vehicles!?

Now talking about the front driver veering left/right.
Yes it may be wrong, especially if one doesn't give indication.
But well, what about something like encountering a person on the middle of the road? Surely saving such person is of greatest importance.
If the driver veers right and the IDIOT behind him was maintaining appropriate distance, there wouldn't be any accident.


I am quite bemused, why were the passengers not able to explain at the first instance what was wrong.

Completely agree with you. This particular driver of my bus was trying to be dominant on the roads right from the beginning. He was pushing the smaller vehicles as well and finally the trucker taught him a lesson That typical rash driving where despite seeing an obstacle ahead, some try to still barge, expecting the obstacle to clear on its own (at the sight of their giant vehicle ) and slam brakes at the last moment ! You would have seen most bigger vehicles especially buses indulging in this kind of behaviour. Not just on roads, but even at bus terminals where they are supposed to maintain a minimum of 20/30 kmph speed or so, many buses make their way to the platform bays at high speeds followed by hard braking.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

This is what struck me at first too. Forget fire, even there was smoke or burning smell it would been reported. Surprised that it took so long for them to realise that the tyre was burst and fire was there (presumably).

Those passengers who stopped the bus looked completely confused and were unable to explain anything clearly, but I feel the bus crew should have taken a hint when they uttered ''smoke''. Thats why some of us asked the conductor to get down and check but they did not respond. By the way, the Fire thing seemed exaggeration to me as well. At the most, there could have been just smoke ? Is there a possibility of fire breaking out following a tyre burst ??

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Some of these KSRTC bus drivers are agents of Yamraj. I remember one journey in a KSRTC Volvo where the driver was driving so recklessly that I could not sleep all night. I went into his cabin and asked him to drive sensibly to which he replied - "NO, I have 15 years experience and this is how I drive" No other passenger joined me in talking some sense to the driver. When I said I will put in a written complaint to the corporation both the conductor and driver laughed at me. I did put in that complaint but got no response as expected. They know that their employee unions are too strong and performance evaluation anyway is an alien word in Govt. organisations.

In my observation over the last 6-7 years, KSRTC Volvos have mellowed, atleast on NH4 routes. But they have gone too slow - their multiaxle Volvo B9R/Scanias are driven at a mere 65-75-80kmph max even on open 4/6 lane highways OR Expressways whereas the regular Sarige express Non ac buses continue to drive rash and fast even in ghats ( the NWKRTC ones are better though).

[null]

Stories apart, I frequent NH4 often - like once or twice a month for a good 400km stretch from Bangalore - and can vouch that KSRTC buses are amongst the most decent (road manners wise) driven vehicles on this stretch compared to all others. I have not seen them doing insane speeds or driving haphazardly unlike the Goa bound cars (yes goa bound / returning ones who drive recklessly).

Very often, these overloaded trucks block both lanes (or 3 lanes too - but very rare) traveling at 20kmph and 22kmph and trying to overtake each other. It really gets frustrating when they continue on like this for minute+ (which BTW feels like eternity). No honking/light flickering helps as they do not bother to slow down and let others pass. In the meanwhile, you have these impatient cars trying to sneak in and move ahead when the trucks finally lose their tempo.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by vivek95

I was travelling one night in a KaSRTC Rajahamsa...

With the way some of the Karnataka Sarige buses are driven, I wonder how they manage to reach their destinations without any (untoward) events. Your story is probably one of the few that make it to such fora. Glad that nothing worse happened, and as most others pointed out, the blame is entirely with the bus driver

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

...When I said I will put in a written complaint to the corporation both the conductor and driver laughed at me. I did put in that complaint but got no response as expected. They know that their employee unions are too strong and performance evaluation anyway is an alien word in Govt. organisations.

My experience is, if you know whom to approach, these people can be taken to task. We were travelling in a KSRTC (Kerala) Super Fast to Ernakulam, and the bus had a lot of empty seats. It was during the wee hours of the day, so the corporation's own directive was to stop for passengers even if they are not waiting at designated bus stops for that particular class of service. This particular driver was reckless and refused to stop the bus. My dad walked up to the driver's area and politely mentioned to the driver that if he stops and picks up people from in between, they will be able to travel and the corporation would get some revenue as well. The driver retorted that it's none of our business and he won't mend his ways. Irritated, dad called the next major depot, Thrissur and gave them the details of the bus. Along with it, he found out the drivers' union representative's number from one of his acquaintances (good to have friends that can be woken up at the dead of the night). This person was also provided the info about the bus, service etc. No sooner than the bus pulled in at the bus depot, a gentleman in uniform walked up to the driver's door and gave him a nice dress up. When the driver got down for refreshments he was whisked away by another set of people. The driver's face when he returned, showed more remorse than arrogance. Needless to say, he drove a lot better and was way more considerate to people during that trip, at least until we got down.

[haria]

Originally Posted by GTO

Incredible story, incredibly written.

Moving your post out as it deserves an independent thread .

Yep. I agree. It was written in a nice humorous way and I had a good laugh reading the twist.

Fortunately, for everyone involved, nothing serious happened, though it takes very little for these to go totally out-of-hand. I hope that darn driver realizes his mistake of tail-gateing vehicle

Originally Posted by vivek95

This particular driver of my bus was trying to be dominant on the roads right from the beginning. He was pushing the smaller vehicles as well and finally the trucker taught him a lesson


In my observation over the last 6-7 years, KSRTC Volvos have mellowed, atleast on NH4 routes. But they have gone too slow - their multiaxle Volvo B9R/Scanias are driven at a mere 65-75-80kmph max even on open 4/6 lane highways OR Expressways whereas the regular Sarige express Non ac buses continue to drive rash and fast even in ghats ( the NWKRTC ones are better though).

I agree. I have seen marked improvement in safety aspects in the last few years, when you compare it with say, 5- 10 years back. But from your account this driver still has serious issues. Hopefully it was just some passing aggro/frustration. If not, he will be a serious menace not only to the corporation, but also to the people on road!

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Some of these KSRTC bus drivers are agents of Yamraj.

nah, I wouldn't go that far! These folks sometimes have a very lousy deal. We get so frustrated riding in traffic for say 1 or 2 hours a day. These folks have to do this day-in and day out and listen to people whining and aggro situations on the road. When myself and a friend was coming from tirupathi couple of years back, we were chatting with the driver during a refreshment stop, and he was telling that he was driving non-stop for 16 hours (other than a lunch break and couple of tea breaks!) because he had to finish the stipulated time driving for that period!

But generally I find their (Bus drivers) patience and tolerance level very high! Probably they have to have even temperament to manage their job well!

[amit_shimla]

During my tenure of 3 years in Bangalore as a student some of my college mates were killed by BMTC/KSRTC buses while they were riding their two wheelers. I was so scared that I dropped the idea of having a bike till the time I was there. Rather I felt safe inside the buses while commuting in the city.

[chakri400]

I always prefer KSRTC to private players though the politeness quotient and service levels are not up to the mark. Most drivers are experienced and drive decently. They start on time irrespective of the number of passengers which helps them reach destinations driving at normal speeds. The private guys employ all sorts of drivers, keep waiting for passengers way beyond their scheduled times and end up speeding.
if there is a break down, help is arranged for KSRTC at most times as in this case too. Had this been with a private player, the emergency response and service levels can be anybody's guess. Unfortunate that you got a bad driver or a driver in a bad mood.

Again: my personal opinion this. I am generalizing here based on my personal experiences only

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by null

Stories apart, I frequent NH4 often - like once or twice a month for a good 400km stretch from Bangalore - and can vouch that KSRTC buses are amongst the most decent (road manners wise) driven vehicles on this stretch compared to all others.

.

Originally Posted by haria

I agree. I have seen marked improvement in safety aspects in the last few years, when you compare it with say, 5- 10 years back. But from your account this driver still has serious issues. Hopefully it was just some passing aggro/frustration. If not, he will be a serious menace not only to the corporation, but also to the people on road!


But generally I find their (Bus drivers) patience and tolerance level very high! Probably they have to have even temperament to manage their job well!

Originally Posted by chakri400

I always prefer KSRTC to private players though the politeness quotient and service levels are not up to the mark. Most drivers are experienced and drive decently. They start on time irrespective of the number of passengers which helps them reach destinations driving at normal speeds. The private guys employ all sorts of drivers, keep waiting for passengers way beyond their scheduled times and end up speeding.
if there is a break down, help is arranged for KSRTC at most times as in this case too. Had this been with a private player, the emergency response and service levels can be anybody's guess. Unfortunate that you got a bad driver or a driver in a bad mood.

Again: my personal opinion this. I am generalizing here based on my personal experiences only

I second all of you. It would be unfair if I don't mention now, what I had to in my original post. Even I would like to term my Rajahamsa incident as a one-off. The driver might have been in a bad mood or overworked, who knows. However, I believe this incident served as a good lesson to him. Generally, most of the KSRTC buses are really well mannered and driven safe on the highways barring a couple of Sarige express buses.

There is no iota of doubt that KSRTC, Karnataka is the best transport organisation in the entire country. Their fleet strength comprising of all types of buses right from the basic ones to the high end Volvo/Scania/Mercedes/Corona etc. is just unparalleled. This includes the sister concerns of NWKRTC and NEKRTC as well. The only grouse I have about KSRTC is their extreme slow driving/lugging of engines by the premium Airavat Volvos and Scanias. They need to drive these exotic Swedish/German buses as per their calibre , well atleast when the conditions are favourable ( I don't mean high speeds at all times ). Reasonably good speeds depending on the merit of roads, is what I am asking for. Rest, their customer service and the courteousness of the crew is generally top notch. The KSRTC Airavat Volvos which come to MH viz.Pune,Mumbai,Shirdi,Kolhapur,Nasik,Aurangabad etc have a great respect amongst the travelling public here. MSRTC Shivneri Volvos are excellent too but their network is limited around Western Maharashtra
.

[av8er]

This is the sorry state of things in our country 'The truck driver fled the scene'.

I have a friend who rear ended a Zen and he got money out of the guy he rear ended saying that he braked suddenly.

India is the only country (among the very few) where you rear end a vehicle and extort money from that person. Everywhere I have been if you have rear ended someone its an 'open and shut' case, the guy who rear ended is at fault period.

The problem is at the grass root level, all this has to be taught when a person trains to drive at a proper Driver training institute.