A 21-year-old man was almost crushed to death when the hydraulic doors of a BMTC bus closed in on him on Sunday evening. Prannoy David Rao hurt his shoulders and chest but what hurt more was the reaction of those around: The bus conductor yelled at him and some passengers guffawed at his plight instead of rescuing him.
When a Marco Polo bus stopped (No 314 E and registration No KA 01 F 4550), Rao waited for people to get off the bus before he embarked. “I was halfway through the entrance when the bus’s door just closed in on me. Half of my body was outside and the doors crushed my shoulders and my chest,” he said. But neither the driver nor the conductor bothered to stop the bus despite my asking. “The driver drove on for at least 30 seconds before stopping the bus and that too only after I screamed.”
A BMTC official said they would look into the issue and take action against the bus crew, if found guilty. He admitted that similar incidents had been reported before. “We advise the drivers to start moving only after all the passengers have boarded. Similarly, we ask passengers to not board a bus which is on the move as shutting of doors is imminent at that point.”
For the full report in the Bangalore Mirror, click here
While the conduct of the bus crew, as well as those of the co-passengers, is indeed quite shocking, what is more shocking is obviously faulty design of the bus door. Doors in lifts, buses, etc in today's world are designed to retract in case they sense an object in the way while attempting to close. Apparently, TATA's Marco Polo is not designed to meet today's standards. And, it is not just the case of the door design. Seeing them (even brand new ones) labouring up the marginally up-hill S-curve along the Indiranagar - Koramangala IRR, belching out clouds of smoke, is quite a pitiable sight, even as VOLVOs wizz past them. The Marco Polo bus certainly doesn't do any good for the TATA brand.
Muralidhar Rao
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crushing bus door
Pl collect some more points on this make of Bus and send it to Bombay House (Tatas). They can modify at least the door closer. Engine laboring is another matter.
some suggestions
I feel the following suggestions may help.
1. The driver should not move *until* the door is closed fully. Which means no stuck passengers!
2. If the doors cannot open out like lift doors..they should atleast be adjusted to soften the closure in order not to hurt people who get caught by mistake..
As for the behaviour of onlookers and conductor...sad but expected from 50% of Bangaloreans!
Marco Polo vs Volvos
It happened to me once in a Volvo, and the door retracted immidiately without crushing me. But I am not sure if it was automatic, or the driver quickly pressed some button.
I see a lot of Marco Polos (non A/c ones) entering BMTC fleet these days. From the look and feel, and comfort inside angles, the non a/c marco polos seem better than Leyland Veera and all the old Eicher and Leyland buses.
But did you notice that even the non a/c Marco polos have the space for A/c on the roof? Does Volvo make non A/c version of their city buses?
Now that the Marco Polo a/c buses have been in trial for over an year, I think we should go ask BMTC for data on capital cost and operational expenses for Volvo and Marco Polo buses. If one is better than the other, then so be it, but we should want to know.
25-30 lakh per Bus, A/c, and operational cost 10-15% higher than non A/c buses - is that the dream Bus Makers should chase? Why are the bus makers not scrambling to make better and cheaper models? Is the market seen to be too small?