JOIN USBus, lorry drivers slow down, to save 48 lives
Slow down, collide, negotiate. This seemed to be the sole mantra of this driver from the NWKRTC as he took upon himself the responsibility to save the lives of 48 people travelling in his bus, whose brakes had failed.
Giving him company by understanding the gravity of the situation was fellow professional, the driver of the lorry moving right in the front, even as the bus passengers held on to dear life.
The bus, KA 26 F 1025 (from the Gadag depot of the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation), was on its way from Hubballi to Karwar on Saturday afternoon. The brakes failed in the Ghat section of Yellapur taluk in Uttara Kannada district and the bus picked up an ominous speed.
Eshwar, the driver, saw the lorry filled with bags of fertilisers, travelling at minimal speed. The bus driver rammed the vehicle deliberately thrice, so that the speed of the bus reduces and it becomes easy for him to steer the bus on the risky, curvy path down of National Highway 63.
Eranna realised that the bus driver was doing a circus of sorts, to take it to safety. He contributed his mite by slowing down the lorry further. The two kept their cool and held on to the steering with great care as the bus and the lorry descended the Ghats section and came to a halt slowly.
Passengers got down and could not stop thanking the drivers profuself, for giving them a relife of sorts. That the front portion of the bus and the hind portion of the lorry suffered dents was too small a damage, compared to the tragedy that could have been.