Pedestrian killed by speeding bus in Balmatta

Pedestrian killed by speeding bus in Balmatta

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 18, 2012: A speeding bus knocked down a pedestrian near Hotel Woodside, Balmatta on June 18, Monday, at around 11:00 a.m., adding to the ever-growing list of accidents caused by buses driven rashly and carelessly.

The 58-year-old man was walking from Jyothi Circle to Hampankatta when Route Number 44 came to the extreme left side and knocked him down, killing him on the spot. The driver of the bus immediately fled the scene.

 

 

A number of people have expressed concern over the failure of the RTO and the police department to curb rash driving on the part of bus drivers.

Reportedly, bus owners are interested only in collection, not public safety. Many bus owners do not even monitor the daily affairs of buses, but lease the buses to drivers and conductors. They just collect a fixed amount at the end of the day while the rest is shared among drivers and conductors. This has led to intense competition among private buses, and many times the public has seen them coming to blows over the issue of timings.

The public are also surprised that bus drivers are hardly booked for speeding and myriad other traffic rule violations in spite of so many police interceptor vehicles roaming throughout the city.