Human error, lack of training likely behind BEST bus accident: RTO officials

It was possibly a combination of “human error” and “lack of proper training” that led to the horrific accident in Mumbai’s Kurla, where a BEST bus fatally knocked down seven persons and injured 42 on Monday (December 9) night, Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials believe.

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

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

RTO completes inspection

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 on Tuesday morning.

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

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

Brakes working fine

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar told news agency PTI that the RTO team had investigated the bus, but the report from Olectra’s engineers was still awaited.

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

An 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, they want to investigate a few more things and hence have sought some details from both Olectra and BEST.

Also read: BEST bus crash: Mumbai court sends driver to police custody till December 21

Driver did not drink

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.

“My husband will never consume alcohol. I have complete faith in him,” his wife said.

More’s family members said he has been holding a driving licence since 1989, and that he had been driving BEST buses since the lockdown when he lost a job. “My husband worked at a steel company for a long time. But after losing that job, he worked as tourist cab driver,” said his wife.

Dispute over training duration

More’s son, Deep, said his father was not involved in any accident in the past. “He had been driving BEST buses for the past three to four years,” he said. According to Deep, his father drove a Tempo Traveller, a 15- to 25-seater passenger vehicle, before driving an electric bus starting this month.

Before driving the e-bus, he was given training, both practical and theoretical, for about 9–10 days from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm.

BEST’s General Manager, Anilkumar Diggikar, however, said that More was provided induction training for three days before he was given an electric bus to drive.

Also read: BEST bus crash: Driver arrested; had no experience of driving EVs, say police

Inexperience of handling automatic buses

The RTO official said it seems More 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.

A retired RTO official agreed. “It is a human error probably caused by lack of knowledge,” he said. The driver perhaps did not have proper knowledge as automatic transmission electric buses do not have air-assisted braking systems, he added.

Matter of 52 to 55 seconds

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 RTO 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 around 2.45 pm on Monday, and the accident occurred at about 9.35 pm.

Also read: BEST bus crash | Need to probe if driver used vehicle as a ‘weapon’: Mumbai police

Driver may have panicked

According to the RTO officials, the e-bus covered a distance of 400 to 450 metres since it dashed into the first vehicle and finally crashed into the compound wall of a housing society on SG 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.

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

(With agency inputs)