HC seeks action against recklessly driven private buses

The Kerala High Court has yet again directed the State government to take steps to curb reckless and competitive driving by private buses in Kochi and also to initiate steps to update the time schedule allotted to buses in different routes.

Citing the need for imposing hefty fines on such buses and even heftier fines in case of repeat of the same offence, a Bench of Justice Amit Rawal ordered that such buses be seized if imposing fines was not a deterrent. Changing the time schedule of buses too would help curb reckless driving.

Buses are engaged in reckless driving even in front of official cars of High Court judges. The norm of permitting a five-minute time gap between buses on the same route must be adhered to in cities and of 10 minutes in rural areas (to prevent bunching of bus services on the same route and the subsequent reckless driving), the court said.

The hearing on the case was taken up in the wake of a spree of fatal accidents involving private buses, including the death of two young two-wheeler riders during the past week. The case has been posted for hearing on August 19.

The High Court had observed earlier this month that there was no respite to reckless driving by private buses and the subsequent accidents involving them, despite multiple orders by the court. The police and the Motor Vehicles department must take deterrent steps to prevent the recurrence of such accidents. ‘Unscientific’ schedule is no excuse for reckless driving, the court had said, adding that little action was taken, despite the High Court ordering that the phone numbers of enforcement officials be displayed in buses.

Subsequently, stickers bearing phone numbers of enforcement personnel were pasted in a few buses in the city for road users to send complaints.