KSRTC bus driver hits bike, kills rider while trying to avoid toll plaza

Rider of the bike died on the spot, pillion rider suffered injuries

Attempting to avoid the toll plaza, a bus driver of Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) drove the bus in the wrong direction and hit a bike on Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway near Kumbalgodu on Sunday morning. The bike rider died on the spot while the pillion rider sustained injuries.

The deceased has been identified as Siddappa, an employee of a private company. The pillion rider has been admitted to a private hospital.

The Kumbalgodu police investigating the case said that the accident occurred owing to negligent and rash driving by the KSRTC driver.

An official of the KSRTC said, “It was a Mysuru-bound bus. It had stops at Bidadi, Ramanagara and others. After crossing the NICE Road Junction, the driver used the flyover of the expressway to reach Bidadi. After getting down from the flyover near the Toll Gate, he found out that access provided from the main carriage to the service was closed. Instead of entering the toll plaza, he decided to take a U-turn and drove the vehicle in the opposite direction. After driving for almost 1 km, the bus was involved in a fatal accident.” 

The official said that two days ago, the access from the main carriage to the service road near Christ University was closed and the driver was not aware of that. “He assumed that the service could be accessed just before the toll. After finding out that it was closed, he decided to return in the wrong direction. The accident happened on the flyover.”

The official said that KSRTC had given instructions to ordinary bus drivers not to take main carriage of the expressway and use service roads instead. “We have asked only non-stop services and premier services to take the main carriage of the expressway.”