TIRUCHY: In yet another accident involving a rashly-driven private bus in Tiruchy city, a teenager riding a bicycle on West Boulevard Road lost one of his legs.
The accident happened near Jaffer Shah Street on Wednesday afternoon when Ajithkumar (18), of Puliyur near Ettarai, who works in a hardware shop at Uyyakondan Thirumalai in the outskirts of the city, was riding to his workplace after visiting an electrical trading company on West Boulevard Road.
Sources said the driver of the private bus plying between Chathiram bus stand and Central bus stand was trying to overtake another bus, plying between Srirangam and KK Nagar.
When both vehicles approached Jaffer Shah Street intersection, the driver of one of the buses attempted to overtake the other one in a bid to take more passengers. In the attempt, the bus jumped the lane meant for heavy vehicles and entered the one for two-wheelers and hit the bicycle Ajithkumar was riding. In the impact, the teenager came under the wheels of the bus and his left lower limb was crushed.
Angry members of the public pelted stones on both buses damaging the windshields. They also staged a road blockade. A strong posse of policemen headed by Sasi Mohan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, rushed to the spot and pacified the protesters. The North Traffic Investigation Wing registered a case and arrested both bus drivers and remanded them.
People gathered at the accident spot, blamed the police and motor vehicle authorities for poor enforcement of rules, which they said had emboldened drivers of private buses to show their ‘authority’ on road.
“Pedestrians are forced to wait for a long time to cross the road safely as drivers of private buses ignore people’s safety,” said P Gunasekaran, of Jaffer Shah Street.