Despite the popular outrage over videos of buses racing dangerously and recklessly on the Pollachi Coimbatore highway, little of the situation seems to have changed on the ground. On Sunday morning, a government bus and a private bus was seen racing each other near Kinathukadavu. The incident took place at around 9.45 A.M.
In a video which has gone viral, a private bus is seen chasing a government bus. The private bus was weaving along the road, covering most of it, and even driving up onto the mud shoulder of the highway and raising plumes of dust along the way. Finally, after several minutes of alarming driving, it overtook the government bus. The private bus was traveling from Coimbatore to Udumalpet, while the government bus was going from Coimbatore to Palani.
This incident comes despite the action taken by the Regional Transport Office against a number of buses and drivers in the past three months. After the first video of racing buses which appeared in the month of April, the RTO had arrested the two drivers and withheld their licenses. Further, 23 buses were seized for over speeding and endangering passengers’ lives.
When a second video emerged in the month of June, similar action was taken against it.
“I have not seen this video and in the last two instances, we had canceled the licenses of the drivers. But we can take action only after we get substantial evidence in the case. In the last two cases, when we went to court there was no substantial evidence. Then we were questioned. In this case, we need to get proper witnesses and evidence, and only then we can take up the case,” an RTO official said.
