24 students riding MTC bus footboards killed in last 7 yrs

CHENNAI: As many as 24 school and college students have died falling from the MTC bus footboards in the last seven years, according to an RTI info.

In response to the petition filed by K Anbazhagan, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Arasu Pokkuvarathu Kazhaga Stop Corruption Thozhirsanga Peravai, MTC has stated that 3 students were killed falling from buses till November 2023 while 5 students were killed in 2022.

According to the MTC, 24 students have been killed since 2017, and 7 were killed in 2017 alone, while no student fatalities were recorded in 2020 due to the COVID lockdown.

MTC has also stated that it has paid a compensation of Rs 6.41 crore in 65 cases students fatalities due to falling from buses between 2013 and November 2023. From January 2022 to November 2023, as many as 117 persons were killed in MTC-related fatalities.

To create road safety awareness among students, MTC has conducted camps at 35 schools last year with participation of 26,566 students. Anbazhagan said, “Students do not listen to the bus crew. Police should intervene and prevent students from travelling on footboard. Parents must also advice them, as MTC has installed automatic doors on old buses too.”

Concurring with him was an MTC official who added: “Safety of commuters is the main responsibility of the bus crew. It has already been informed that buses should not be operated if school students are travelling on footboard,” the official averred.

First, the conductor and driver should advise the students to get inside. If students don’t listen, the crew should take the bus to the nearby police station or halt at the traffic police check post, the official noted.

In 2016, the School Education Department had warned that it would cancel free bus passes for students who are repeatedly found travelling on footboard, and that disciplinary action will also be taken against the particular student.