NEW DELH: Human error and insufficient training are being cited as potential causes in the accident involving a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) electric bus that claimed seven lives and injured 42 others in Kurla on Monday night.
The Wadala Regional Transport Office (RTO) has ruled out brake failure as the cause of the accident after inspecting the bus.
The accident occurred around 9.30 pm on S G Barve Marg in Kurla (West) when the Olectra-made electric bus, operated by BEST, plowed into pedestrians and vehicles.
The driver, Sanjay More (54) was arrested shortly after the incident.
Initial speculation suggested brake failure as the reason for the crash, with More’s family also supporting this theory and asserting that he had not consumed alcohol.
However, an inspection of the bus by an RTO team led by motor vehicle inspector Bharat Jadhav found the brakes and all other critical systems, including headlights, to be in working condition.
“When the RTO team inspected the bus, it found its brakes were working fine,” an unnamed RTO official told PTI.
“However, before submitting the probe report, they want to investigate a few more things and have sought details from Olectra and BEST.”
Preliminary findings suggest that the driver’s inexperience in handling an automatic transmission electric bus may have played a role in the crash. Unlike conventional buses with a clutch and gear system, the 12-meter-long electric bus has an automatic transmission, which can affect a driver’s judgment of acceleration and braking.
“If a driver doesn’t have experience driving an automatic transmission bus, he doesn’t get proper judgment of acceleration and braking initially.
Hence, it seems human error may have caused the accident,” the RTO official said.
The bus, registered in the name of EVEY TRANS on August 20, 2024, was only three months old. The driver was employed through a Pune-based third-party agency.
As per BEST’s records, More signed on duty at 2.45 pm on Monday, and the accident occurred at 9.35 pm.
Footage from the bus’s three onboard CCTV cameras revealed that the “entire horror unfolded within a span of 52 to 55 seconds,” an official said.
The bus reportedly covered a distance of 400 to 450 meters after hitting its first vehicle, ultimately crashing into the compound wall of a housing society on S G Barve Road.
Officials believe the driver may have panicked after the initial impact and accelerated instead of braking, leading to the collision with multiple vehicles and pedestrians.
Records show that Sanjay More joined duty on November 29, 2024, and was assigned to drive the electric bus from December 1. BEST and More’s family have provided conflicting accounts regarding his training.
BEST general manager Anil Diggikar stated that More received three days of induction training, while More’s son, Deep More, claimed his father underwent 9 to 10 days of training.
Prior to driving the electric bus, More had been operating 7 to 9-meter Tempo Traveller mini buses for BEST since November 2020. He had previously worked with M P Group before joining Daga Group, which recently withdrew around 280 mini buses from BEST’s operations.
A retired RTO official emphasized the difference in driving mechanisms between automatic transmission electric buses and manual fossil fuel buses.
“The automatic transmission electric buses do not have air-assisted braking systems, and it takes time to get used to driving them,” the official said. “It is a human error probably caused by lack of knowledge.”
Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar confirmed that the RTO has inspected the bus as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for vehicle inspection.
“Our team has investigated the bus as per the set SOP for inspecting the bus,” he said. However, the report from Olectra’s engineers is still awaited. The RTO’s final report will be submitted to the Mumbai police once the investigation is complete.
