Motorway accident: Obeying rules could have prevented bus crash

NHMP rules state buses on routes longer than five hours must have two drivers.

RAWALPINDI:

A deadly accident on the motorway that left six people dead and 39 injured could have been prevented, if the National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) and the bus operators had fulfilled their legal obligations. 

Under the law, the motorway police are obliged to strictly enforce traffic laws, and so are the bus operators, but Sunday’s accident showed that both sides were guilty of neglecting those laws.

Under the NHMP rules, companies operating buses on routes longer than five hours are supposed to keep two drivers onboard, with the motorway police having the responsibility to ensure compliance.

The accident exposed the leniency of the motorway police, which rarely checks long-haul buses.

According to the police and passengers of the ill-fated bus, the bus driver fell asleep and rear-ended into a 22-wheeler trailer, leading to six deaths.

Interestingly, the first information report registered by the Naseerabad police makes no mention of the NHMP’s negligence.

“We have registered an FIR against the bus driver and the bus operators for not engaging two drivers,” Naseerabad Police Station House Officer (SHO) Chaudhry Jamil told The Express Tribune.

He said that even if there was negligence on the NHMP’s part, it would not be mentioned in the FIR as

It was the operator’s job to ensure two drivers were onboard.

NHMP Spokesman Javaid Chaudhry confirmed that under the rules, bus operators were bound to hire two drivers on all routes of over five hours.

When asked why the NHMP did not check the bus when it entered the motorway, he said that it was not possible for the police to check every single bus.

“All buses going to Islamabad display the same board and it becomes difficult for us to judge where buses are coming from [without stopping and delaying them],” he said.

He said that all bus operators have been informed to engage two drivers on routes covering more than five-hours.

“By not engaging two drivers, the bus operators violated our rules and that is why we recommended they be named in the FIR,” the spokesman said.

Sources in the motorway police told The Express Tribune that despite recurring reports of drivers falling asleep or other fatigue-related incidents on the interprovincial highway, the police were still not strictly enforcing traffic rules.

The ill-fated bus coming from Bahawalpur hit the trailer some five kilometres from Tarnol Toll Plaza. The driver had been at the wheel for almost 12 hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2014.