Mumbai: BEST bus hits parked vehicles, 3 injured
What's the story
A Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus, on a wet lease, rammed into six parked vehicles near Gokhale Bridge signal in Andheri West on Monday afternoon. The accident injured three people. The injured were identified as 55-year-old autorickshaw driver Enus Shaikh, 30-year-old pedestrian Manojkumar Bajdev and 20-year-old motorist Anis Nisar Dhari, Hindustan Times reported.
Incident analysis
Human error likely caused accident
According to BEST's preliminary report, the bus on route A-221 from Andheri bus station to Versova moved forward suddenly when the driver released the handbrake.
This caused it to hit four autorickshaws, an Ertiga car, and an Activa scooter parked ahead.
A BEST official, speaking anonymously, told HT that human error likely caused the accident and further investigation is underway.
Safety concerns
Similar accidents involving wet-lease buses
This incident comes just weeks after another accident involving a wet-lease BEST bus on July 20, which killed a pedestrian and injured 10 others.
In June, a similar bus crashed into a bus stop near Plaza Cinema in Dadar, killing one and injuring several.
These incidents have raised concerns about the safety of wet-lease buses operated by private contractors in Mumbai.
Safety measures
Call for tighter monitoring of wet-lease operators
The police are registering a first information report (FIR) based on Dhari's complaint.
Senior police inspector Sachin Gavas confirmed that the bus driver would be booked for rash driving under section 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
BEST committee members have also called for tighter monitoring of wet-lease operators, driver training, maintenance, and enforcement of safety protocols in light of these accidents.