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Speed governors may help

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With another Volvo bus going up in flames, likely owing to speeding, the rule to implement speed governors for commercial vehicles seems to be flouted with impunity. The mishap has put pressure on the state government, which has already set December 1 as the deadline for all government and private buses to adopt speed governors.

Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said there was no proposal to extend the deadline, which was postponed many times in the past. Everyone, including Reddy, who visited the spot on Thursday, suspected speeding to be the reason for the accident.

Some of the passengers in the bus said the vehicle was going at  120kmph. Travels officials asserted that the bus was fitted with a speed governor and was traveling at 90kmph. According to traffic experts, a vehicle fitted with speed governor cannot exceed 70kmph.

Some bus drivers said speed governors can be made inactive. Reportedly, some drivers working with KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC make the instrument inactive when they take the bus out from the depot and reactivate it while returning. “This illegal process was rampant till the cancellation of private buses in North Karnataka region. As private operators were doing this to take passengers at higher speed, it was indirectly supported by our officials, who used to bother only about collection. To beat competition of private buses, we were doing this act,” said a driver working in Bellary depot.

He added: “As speed governors are fitted by our mechanics just below the accelerator, it is possible to modify them. If bus manufacturing companies put inbuilt speed governors, it is not possible to meddle around with them.”

When dna tried to know about the condition of the speed governor in the ill-fated bus, officials concerned denied to comment on the issue. Deputy commissioner of transport, Narendra Holkar, and Dharwad RTO NM Balavalli, who visited the spot, said a clear picture will emerge only after investigation by automobile experts.

Too early to comment: Volvo
Responding to Thursday’s accident, bus manufacturer Volvo said that at this stage, the company cannot ascertain the cause of the event.

“We will offer all cooperation to the authorities and agencies investigating this accident. We already have a team of technical experts in place who will be investigating this accident,” read a statement by Volvo.

Taking note of the previous accident in which a Volvo bus had caught fire in a similar fashion, (on Bangalore-Hyderabad route, on October 30), the company said each event is understood individually, adding that its senior management representatives will be in India soon in this regard.

Escaped... Just in the nick of time
“As I did not get sleep in the wee hours, I was just listening music using earphone. When a co-passenger, an Indian youth, alerted of fire, I suddenly stood up and broke the window pane at left side of the bus. When I realised that three were near to window, I pushed them out and I also jumped down,” recalled Bright Muhammed, a South African citizen, who was traveling in the ill-fated bus. He said he did not hope to survive as flames engulfed the bus in a matter of seconds. His wife was lucky to be able to escape from the front door. A 10-year-old boy woke up his parents, helping them escape.

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