Now Reading: KSRTC crash driver reportedly lacked rest and experience
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KSRTC crash driver reportedly lacked rest and experience
A Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus crashed on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway near Bidadi on Saturday, killing the driver and conductor. Fourteen passengers were injured. Kerala Transport Minister CP John announced a…
The Story in Brief
A Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus crashed on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway near Bidadi on Saturday, killing the driver and conductor. Fourteen passengers were injured. Kerala Transport Minister CP John announced a post-crash inquiry to be completed within five days and said the government would review staff duty hours over concerns that employees may be working long stretches without adequate rest.
Deccan Herald reports, citing unnamed sources, that the driver, K Midhilesh, was a temporary employee deployed for a long-distance route despite instructions to use only experienced drivers for such trips. The two deceased were driver Arun NM and conductor Midilesh K, both from Kozhikode. The Kerala government said it will bear the full treatment cost of the injured. Minister John thanked the Karnataka government for its assistance.
The Indian Opinion
The death of two KSRTC employees has rightly shifted attention from blaming an individual driver to questioning the system that put him behind the wheel. One-sided narratives often rush to label a crash a result of personal negligence. Here, the evidence points to a deeper problem of duty rosters and rest rules. The concrete test will be the five-day inquiry report: if it finds that rest periods or experience norms were routinely flouted, then KSRTC must enforce strict limits, not just review them. Will the government take action or merely issue another circular?.
Sources (2): deccanherald.com, indiatoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
