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Bus accident in Kanina, Mahendragarh claims lives of six school children on 11.04.24 at 7.30 am

Mahendragarh is in the NCR and is located in Haryana. In this very horrific accident, the drunk bus driver was carrying 37 students of the GL Public School. He was drunk, but tried to overtake a truck at a bend near the Kanina Women's College.The bus overturned after hitting a tree. Six school children were killed and 21 were injured. The driver Dharmendra jumped out of the bus to save himself. Locals said that they saw the bus moving in a zig zag manner on the road. The driver, school principal and secretary were arrested. And the funniest part is that the Transport Minister Aseem Goyal ordered the checking of fitness for all school buses. Rather than strictly check the fitness of such passenger killer, drunk drivers, he orders checking fitness of the school buses. He has ordered a probe into the accident which is good.

The facts leading to this accident needs the strongest condemnation. The driver was drunk and was playing with the lives of innocent school children whose parents must have woken up before 6.00 am to get their children ready for school, offering them breakfast and also preparing their tiffins. The parents innocently handed over their children for care to the criminal driver unknowingly, vouching that they will travel safe. The children also must have got themselves ready to move to school, blissfully unaware of what lay in store for them.

Such criminal drivers need the harshest of all punishments, but I am well aware that he will be in jail for drunk driving ( he was promptly tested by police for his alcohol levels) but soon obtain bail for the accident in which he was instrumental in killing six and injuring 21 children also traumatising their parents and the surviving 10 children who saw the tragedy happening. ( 6 +21+10=37).

Links (news)

https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le68056897.ece

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../109227333.cms

Link (video)

https://youtu.be/fgfu_v1xwtM?feature=shared

This is the most irresponsible behaviour from the traffic department. The department does not care about human lives. Rather than improving road safety, the department is keen on diminishing road safety. There's only one word that can sum up this: miserable.:Shockked:

It is indeed dreadful that it has not been cleared from the road immediately. Does anyone know how long it was left there?

I use the ORR everyday for about 30 kms. You should see some of the idiots driving the fortuners, the hectors and cars of those size, zipping through traffic doing 120+. I am extremely alert when on that road. if in my rear view mirror i see someone approaching really fast, i ensure I am staying very away from that lane. The ORR is a very well planned and an extremely well maintained road, only to be used by some idiots that make it unsafe for others.

This is really heart wrenching. So many dreams quashed. One person's mistake spelt doom for so many others. Normally all the school buses start from the school campus and there would be an admin person to oversee the exit of the buses for pickup. Not sure how the drunk driver got away without anyone noticing when he took the bus from the school.

Sorry to see this tragic incident.

Not sure how much of an aid it would be, develop a habit of looking at your rear view mirror frequently, especially on fast hightways, you might get a view of the missile behind you before it is too late.

Agree. Even the news says that bus was unfit to drive. When there’s an unfit driver at the wheels, the vehicle’s condition doesn’t matter. Are they thinking that a “fit” bus would have prevented the accident on its own!:Frustrati
When will the government come up with stringent rules for obtaining the license and punishment for indiscipline driving? Guess, it takes only a high profile accident for the government to act.
Death of 1 rich/powerful person >> lakhs of common lives.

Because it’s not an airline. Seems like a small school in some rural area of Haryana.

A good driver will check his rear view mirrors every 5 to 10 seconds. He will be aware of what's is going on around him. Check rear view mirror, look to the left including left door mirror, back to rear view mirror, look to the right including right door mirror and back to rear view mirror. Repeat.
It only takes a split second to see what is going on around you including any potential hazards.
In 5 seconds a car will travel approx 160 metres at expressway speeds.

What's worse is that the fact that few villagers stopped this bus and took away the key from the driver as he was driving dangerously and was visibly drunk.
The school principal intervened and got back the key and gave it to the same drunk driver only to crash just 6kms from the earlier spot.

Now the school authorities are also booked for enabling this "accident".
At this point, I wouldn't like to call this an accident, but murder. :mad:

Such a tragedy.

Haryana locals tried to stop 'drunk' driver before bus crash, snatched his key

I agree with this point. A higher-powered vehicle would also be better in slow-moving traffic as it will be easy to drive with good low-end torque.

When maintained well, a higher-powered vehicle usually has better control and braking abilities due to its larger tires, stronger brakes, and aerodynamics.

On one of my highway drives, I observed an Alto doing 110 kph almost constantly. I always wonder how they do it confidently. I mean, the car may go even faster, but what's their strategy when something suddenly happens? Like a dog barging in from the bushes or a sudden decrease in traction due to a badly surfaced road.

I can understand highly skilled drivers have better reaction times and an intuitive understanding of road conditions. But even then, a car's abilities will limit the driver.

This almost reminds me of Ollie Bearman's quote, "In F2 you drive at the limit of the car, in F1 it is to the limit of the driver."

In my case, I drive relatively easily when I'm feeling all good, but I only drive faster when I'm in a good mood for fun or a bit tired so that the speed can keep me more attentive.

The fitness certificate of this particular bus had expired 6 years ago which is why instructions had to be given by the Transport Minister to check the fitness of all school buses in the state. This drive has resulted in the discovery of a lot more unfit school buses in the state.

More on the drive here: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ha...-palwal-610361

Details of school buses impounded as part of the drive (which is still on which means a lot more unfit school buses will likely be discovered):

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ch...pounded-610162

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ha...istrict-610301

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ha...-palwal-610361

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/ha...stricts-610362

The authorities have woken up as a result of this unfortunate but wholly avoidable accident. However, things will likely be back to "normal" soon! This is how things are in our country.

It is crazy just how defensive you have to be on the road these days. The lack of confidence and fear I feel of hurting someone on the road and myself has increased to an uncomfortable level. I’m sure I make mistakes too but the sheer disregard for life I see on our roads blows my mind every single day.

It really pulls me away from riding and it’s a struggle, a tug of war the bikes (both motored, and non) are losing, and the car is winning.

I genuinely have come to enjoy riding and prefer to move on a bike when there's not too much to carry. The mobility, the feel is quite fun. Yet, the reason for its advantage also carries its folly.

Since road safety without followed rules is an inverse function of time, as with time numbers (and frequency) of the number of people driving badly will increase, and the margins due to added volumes will reduce, rather than skill that something adverse will happen.

We are too many, too much in a hurry, and too distracted.

Sorry for the rant. I wanted to be heard and maybe discuss this issue and if genuinely, things can be improved.

I'm all ears and all ideas. If it can be made revenue generating, even better.

I have said this before and will say it again. We should stop issuing driving license to any tom dick now. License should be made so tough that it should be a proverbial unicorn. It's not something new, many developed countries follow strict tests for a reason. Hopefully someone in power realises the same. Gadkari is making our highways faster and faster and the clowns are making it more and more dangerous. Gadkari sir, please wake up and do something about this !

Unfortunately, 99% of all drivers drivers (including majority on team-bhp, my assumption) don't follow necessary speed limits on city and highway roads. Most of our highway legal speeds are around 80 kmph, how many people really follow this rule, taking just a look into above comments. It is totally different debate whether 80kmph is slow enough or needs to be updated. First let us follow necessary rules, which is missing. Second inadequate driving training, most of all know how to accelerate and go fast, how many of us are equipped to handle emergency maneuvers and emergency braking?. Thirdly almost all cars are never designed to controllable beyond recommended legal speeds, list is endless. Major cause of most of accidents are 1. Not following laid down rules, 2. Inadequate driving training, 3. Inadequate vehicle configurations. My guess, if above are addressed, we might see down probably downward trend of accidents.

I don't know what better to suggest, off the top of my head, but "mistake" seems to be the wrong word for getting drunk and recklessly driving leading to multiple young deaths.

With respect, I think this is wrong thinking. You are tired: your responses are going to be slower and less accurate. My advice would be, do not try to wake yourself up by driving faster. It could be a rude awakening! Always drive within one's capabilities, that day, that time.