'Rash driving led to Volvo accidents'

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday blamed the back-to-back Volvo bus accidents on rash driving and overspeeding.

Responding to questions raised by the Opposition members in the Legislative Council, Reddy said both the buses were new with one being just a month-old and another three to four months old. “It was only due to overspeeding and rash driving that the accidents occurred,” he said.

Referring to the accident at Mahabubnagar, Reddy said the victims had rushed to the back of the bus unaware of the emergency exits. The minister said none of the buses, which lack emergency exits, would be allowed to ply. However, he did not rule out technical faults in the buses which might have led to the fire.

Reddy said since the Volvo accidents, the government had inspected 17,820 buses and had booked cases of violation against owners of 5,819 of them. He added that as many as 282 buses had been taken off  from service. The government has collected close to Rs 1.88 crore as fine from the owners of these buses, he added.