Today all buses have GPS its easy – employ youth who deserve to be employed… not dabang drivers.

On 09 December there was news about a speeding BEST bus crashing into multiple people and vehicles on a busy Kurla street. The media is stupidly reporting confusing statements… some stating that the driver was drunk some stating that the driver lost control, some blaming the torque of the electric bus, some blaming the short training period and some blaming the company Olectra Greentech itself… reporting cannot get any worse. The media even asked the culprit what happened… and he blamed the company… and they reported it… duh? Are they blind?

The Wreckage SPELLS OUT HE WAS SPEEDING... but still the media has no real answers.

It is surprising why there is not even one media article about the reckless driving habits of BEST EV drivers! The BEST driver’s driving habits are so…

bad that they feel completely ok if they regularly jerk the bus EVERY 2 seconds with Accelerate and sudden braking… again accelerating and again sudden braking.. again accelerating and again sudden braking.

 BEST drivers are famous for their reckless driving. BEST has its own driving lessons for new drivers but somehow the drivers are not given any lessons on the soft skills in driving like lane discipline, timely/softer braking (avoid jerks to passengers), following traffic rules and signals, etc.

The impact of the crash and the number of vehicles damaged in this and most other BEST accidents is proof that the driver was speeding over the limit.

This is not a rare case… actually it is quite common to see news about an accident caused by the drivers of either the BEST or the State Transport.

IF A BUS DRIVER DRIVES… EVEN ONCE… OVER THE SPEED LIMIT THEN HE HAS TO BE SUSPENED… IF HE DOES IT MORE THAN 3 TIMES HE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM DRIVING DUTY. THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY LENIANCY TO IT.

Because some people just do not understand the calamity they can cause and some are habitual or get a thrill in driving fast. Today it seems all buses have GPS attached so checking if a driver has gone over the speed limit should not be difficult.

There are many speeding accidents of BEST drivers… not only of Electric Bus… even normal buses and State Transport buses are driven like dabang MadMax drivers.

Team-BHP article on rash driving habits of BEST Drivers.

The torque and power of an electric bus us much greater than that of an Diesel Bus so extra care has to be used while braking and acceleration has to be smooth. All of their driving habits (sudden acceleration followed by sudden deceleration again repeated regularly and driving over speed limit) are recorded in the EV data or even the GPS system history.

Why this EV data or Bus-GPS data is still not accessed by the Police or media?

The driving habits are so bad that many a times kids and senior citizens who use the bus regularly have gone flying inside the bus and suffered injuries. Its a miracle nobody died from their fall inside the bus.

BEST must make a mobile App which can rate the driving habit of the driver with tick-able options like… aggressive driving… sudden braking and sudden acceleration… rude. Or even Good driver… safe driver… safe driving habit… smooth driving… polite driver, etc.

Safety of the passengers who use the BEST are very important but the safety of the people on the roads are even more important.

There are chances that BEST officials due to friendships, and union pressure might be lenient on some driver. So expecting the BEST staff to reprimand these drivers is of no use. Else such a situation would not have happened.

Just like the rating in Uber the BEST drivers should also be rated. This rating should be reflected in their service file and their promotions and demotions should be based on that.

BEST can have a driver Rating App where public who can upload the picture of the BEST ticket showing time and Bus Plate No can rate the driver. Each Driver’s QR Code or number and photo should be available on the app.

Such a digital initiative should be started by the Govt of Maharashtra and replicated all across India to improve safety on roads.