Police inspect the bus after it veered into the pavement at Kamarajar Salai. | (Ashwin Prasath | EPS)
Police inspect the bus after it veered into the pavement at Kamarajar Salai. | (Ashwin Prasath | EPS)

MTC bus goes off road, hits barriers and railings in Chennai's Kamarajar Salai

The Kamarajar Salai off the Marina beach may have one of the best pedestrian pathways in the city.

CHENNAI: The Kamarajar Salai off the Marina beach may have one of the best pedestrian pathways in the city. But an MTC bus accident on Friday proved that even the best is not safe for pedestrians if the motorists continue to flout speed rules.

Around 2 pm, an MTC bus deviated to the pathway after breaking two stone pillars and railings. Luckily as there was no pedestrian on the pathway at the time of the accident, there was casualty either.

Police said the MTC bus (109S) was running from Broadway to Tiruporur with just about a dozen of passengers on board. The driver diverted the bus to the pedestrian pathway since a car ahead stopped suddenly at a traffic signal near Vivekanandar Illam.

“The traffic signal was yellow and the car ahead was apparently speeding, hoping to cross the signal before it turned red. But realising  it was too late, the car driver applied the brakes.  

The bus driver following the car  was caught off guard and to avoid hitting the car, he turned the bus towards the pedestrian pathway,” said an officer in the traffic investigations wing.

As the bus deviated to the pathway, the stone pillars and railings gave away. Fortunately, no pedestrian was present.

Bus driver D Mukundan (41), a native of Thiruvannamalai, suffered injuries as he dashed against the steering wheel and was treated in a government hospital.

Around 3,500 pedestrians are killed every year in the state in traffic accidents and still most of the roads lack safe pathways. 

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