PALAKKAD: The investigation report of the motor vehicle department stated that the reason for the Vadakancherry accident was the excessive speed of the tourist bus and the negligence of the driver. The report also stated that the KSRTC bus driver was not at fault.

The report of the district transport office rejects the statement of tourist bus driver Jomon that the sudden braking of the KSRTC bus led to the accident. The CCTV camera footage obtained from the area clearly shows the KSRTC bus moving exactly on the left side of the road and the tourist bus following it at high speed. The tourist bus driver attempted to overtake a car through the left side and reach in front of the KSRTC bus. During this attempt, the tourist bus driver lost control of the bus and it crashed into the rear of the KSRTC bus. Further action will be taken based on the report submitted to the Transport Commissioner.

Other findings

• The KSRTC bus, which had dropped a person 200 meters before the accident spot and continued its journey, had not applied the brake at the accident spot. It was travelling at a low speed.
• The tourist bus was travelling at a high speed. It was 97.72 kmph at the time of the accident. The average speed throughout the journey was 84.4 kmph.
• The cause of the accident is excessive speed and carelessness of the driver
• The accident could have been avoided if the tourist bus had travelled at a controlled speed and had maintained a distance from the vehicle in front.
• The speed governor of the bus was not functioning. It is suspected that this was done on purpose.

Violations of 1279 tourist buses found

Motor Vehicle Department conducting inspections as part of Operation Focus found violations of 1279 tourist buses yesterday. Unauthorized lights were found in 645 buses, while banned air horns were found in 201 buses. The speed governor was found disconnected in 85 buses. The MVD officials also found that 68 buses were illegally modified. The fitness of eight buses with serious faults was cancelled. A notice was also issued to cancel the registration of two buses and suspend the licenses of nine bus drivers.