AA Edit | Unsafe Roads: Focus On Safety
On November 3, a truck carrying a load of gravel collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction near Hyderabad
A spate of road accidents involving heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks, has been reported across the country. The recent incidents in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan were particularly gruesome and indicative of systemic deficiencies.
On November 3, a truck carrying a load of gravel collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction near Hyderabad. The impact caused the truck to dump several tonnes of gravel onto the bus, crushing at least 19 people to death. On the same day, a speeding dumper truck rammed into multiple vehicles in Jaipur, killing at least 13 people and taking the total number of accident fatalities in Rajasthan to 45.
The accident in Telangana has especially shaken people’s trust in public transport, coming just days after another bus caught fire when it ran over a motorcycle, killing 20 passengers near Kurnool.
Both accidents in Telangana were tragic examples of victims paying with their lives for the unintended errors of others — the inability of a truck driver to safely navigate a narrow road near Hyderabad, and the recklessness of an inebriated motorcyclist near Kurnool.
India records one of the world’s highest numbers of road fatalities each year, with over 1.6 lakh deaths reported annually. Common contributing factors in most accidents involving heavy vehicles are narrow roads, speeding, inadequate training and driver fatigue.
Despite numerous safety campaigns and awareness drives, enforcement of basic road discipline remains weak. The government, therefore, should mandate better training and compliance systems for heavy vehicle drivers, improve road design and impose stronger penalties for traffic violations. It should also limit vehicle acceleration capability to align with infrastructure limits.
Heavy vehicles should be fitted with advanced control systems such as electronic stability control, automatic emergency braking (AEB) and driver drowsiness alert systems, which aid the driver in navigating the vehicle safety to its destination.