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TAKING A BRAKE
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Looks like BMTC is tired of endless complaints about the bad road behaviour of its drivers. The corporation is bringing out CDs on accidents to tell them where they go wrong
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Some awareness could help avoid ghastly accidents — Photo: T.L. Prabhakar
HOW DO you sensitise a bus driver who thinks nothing of mowing down a couple of people as he manoeuvres his bulky vehicle through mad traffic?
Upendra Tripathy, Managing Director of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), thinks that their proposed "Accident Almanac" project could provide the answer. An initiative by the BMTC to reconstruct the accidents year-wise on a set of CDs, it is sure to create enough awareness (and scare too) among drivers to change the way they drive, he believes. This project was thought of when BMTC realised that being responsible for 70 to 100 deaths on the roads every year was not a reputation to be proud of.
The proposed CDs will document how each accident took place in a year. "They will describe what went wrong, how, and due to whose fault," says Mr. Tripathy. The BMTC will record the events on video, put them in the CDs, and back it up with graphics and animation. The CDs will then be shown to the BMTC drivers in batches. "When they actually watch where and how a bus driver went wrong, they will know how to avoid such accidents in future," says M.F. Pasha, the Director, Safety and Vigilance, BMTC.
In fact, the BMTC has already brought out one CD at a cost of Rs. 2.5 lakh. This CD, which documents some of the recent accidents, has also been shown to some bus drivers. BMTC claims that this exercise is showing some results already.
But the proposed CDs will go a step further and add a bit of emotion to the whole exercise — they will also show the tragic impact of the accidents on the families of the victims. It will also show how the drivers themselves will suffer, given what they have to undergo in police stations and courts. Mr. Pasha adds: "We will tell them all sides of the story."
The BMTC will hire professionals and use the in-house skills to bring out the CDs. The department hopes to have 19 CDs ready in the next six months.
The CDs could benefit the commuters too, if it is shown on television, says Mr. Tripathy. Mr. Pasha adds that commuters are responsible for about 20 per cent of accidents.
GOVIND D. BELGAUMKAR
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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