Is BMTC a risk for road users?

Is BMTC a risk for road users?
Saturday August 9 2008 12:24 IST

Express News Service

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BANGALORE: For Bangaloreans, the threat from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses seems to be worse than that of bomb blasts.

About 55 people have been killed this year in road mishaps which involved BMTC buses. This is twice the corresponding figure of last year. In 2007, 24 people were killed in BMTC road mishaps.

BMTC buses, which are compared to Delhi’s Blueline, have become a risk factor for other road users too. It is high time the authorities take serious note of this to prevent further mishaps. S Shivkumar, a 40-year-old techie, was the latest victim. He was mowed down by a BMTC bus near Kalasipalya recently.

Inspite of several measures taken by both the traffic department and BMTC authorities, the road behaviour of drivers does not seem to have undergone adequate changes in the recent past.

BMTC Chief Personnel Manager Sriram Reddy said: “If we find the driver guilty in death cases, we suspend him for six months, while in case of injuries he is chargesheeted.’