'Human error' and 'lack of proper training' led to Mumbai bus tragedy, suspect RTO officials

Mumbai: Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials on Tuesday said they suspect that a "human error" and "lack of proper training" led to the horrific accident in Mumbai's Kurla, where a BEST bus fatally knocked down seven persons and injured 42 others.

Soon after the incident occurred on Monday night, an investigation team of the Wadala RTO found that the brakes of the electric bus of Olectra-make were operating well.

The e-bus operated by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking rammed into pedestrians and vehicles at around 9.30 pm on Monday on the S G Barve Marg in Kurla (West). Sanjay More (54), who was at the wheel of the ill-fated bus, was later arrested.

A team of the Wadala RTO reached the spot a couple of hours after the incident. The RTO team led by motor vehicle inspector Bharat Jadhav completed the inspection of the bus at the BEST's Kurla depot this morning.

BEST administration, with the help of Mumbai police, shifted the bus from the accident site at 12.30 am, which was taken to Kurla depot around 1.15 am, officials said.

Generally, motor vehicle inspectors carry out inspection of the vehicles as per the laid-down procedure, but due to the gravity of the incident, deputy RTO Pallavi Kothawade reached Kurla with other officers.

Attempts to contact Wadala RTO Ravi Gaikwad and Kothawade proved unsuccessful.

Talking to PTI, Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar, said the RTO team has investigated the bus, but the report from Olectra's engineers is still awaited.

"Our team has investigated the bus as per the set Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for inspecting the bus," he said, adding that they will submit their investigation report to the Mumbai police.

A RTO official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI that when the RTO team inspected the bus, they found the brakes of the bus were working fine. However, but submitting their probe report, they want to investigate a few more things, and hence they have sought some details from both Olectra and BEST.

Initially, it was suspected that brake failure could be the cause of the accident. Driver More's family also claimed that brake failure could have led to the incident. The family members also claimed that he did not consume alcohol.

The official said it seems the bus driver was inexperienced to drive the automatic transmission bus with no clutch and gear like the conventional buses, and he was probably not given proper training before being permitted to drive the 12-meter-long bus.

"If a driver doesn't have experience driving an automatic transmission bus, he doesn't get proper judgment of acceleration and braking initially. Hence, it seems human error may have caused the accident," he said.

During RTO's inspection of the accident-struck bus, the brakes and all other systems, including the headlights of the bus, were found to be operating fine, the official added.

RTO sources said the electric bus was just three months old as it was registered in the name of EVEY TRANS on August 20, 2024. The driver was supplied through a Pune-based third-party agency.

According to RTO officials, the inspection team checked all three CCTV cameras installed inside the bus, and their footage suggests that the entire horror unfolded within a span of 52 to 55 seconds.

"The entire horror has happened within 52-55 seconds," said an official, adding that, as per the BEST's records, the driver had signed on duty on Monday at around 2.45 pm, and the accident occurred at about 9.35 pm.

As per the RTO officials, the e-bus covered a distance of 400 to 450 meters since it dashed with the first vehicle and finally crashed into the compound wall of a housing society on S G Barve Road while heading to Sakinaka from Kurla Station West.

RTO officials also suspect that the driver might have panicked after the bus rammed into the first vehicle, and might have increased the speed due to which it hit everything on the way before crashing it into the society wall.

As per the duty records of the driver, he had joined duty on November 29, 2024, and was given the electric bus to drive from December 1.

The BEST administration and the driver's family have made contradictory statements about his training.

Speaking to the reporters, BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar claimed that More was given three days of induction training, while his son Deep More claimed that his father underwent 9 to 10 days of training before he was given the electric bus to drive.

RTO teams have not yet got the details of his driving licence from the police.

As per the BEST records, More was driving the wet leased 7 to 9-meter Tempo Traveller mini buses in their fleet since November 2020, but had no experience driving a 12-meter electric bus as he earlier worked for M P Group before joining Daga Group that recently withdrew its around 280 mini buses from BEST's operation.

A retired RTO official said that the automatic transmission electric buses and manual transmission fossil fuel buses have different mechanisms. Hence, it takes some time for the drivers to get used to driving them.

"It is a human error probably caused by lack of knowledge," the retired official said.

The driver perhaps did not proper knowledge as automatic transmission electric buses do not have air-assisted braking systems, he added.