In yet another incidence of rash driving of large vehicles, a private and government bus collided in Annur taluk of Coimbatore district. Thirty nine passengers who were onboard both buses have been injured, with five of them currently in a critical condition.

The accident happened on Monday morning when the private bus was leaving a bus depot in Sathiyamangalam. It was headed towards Coimbatore. The government bus meanwhile was headed towards the depot from Coimbatore. Investigating officials told TNM that the private bus overtook a lorry on the left and banged right into the government bus.

"Both vehicles were speeding on the road," said an investigating official. "We are probing the matter and the drivers will be questioned," he added.

Members of the public who witnessed the collision immediately went to the rescue of the passengers who were injured or trapped in the buses. They were removed from the spot in ambulances to the a government hospital in Coimbatore.

This incident comes despite action taken by the Regional Transport Office against a number of buses and drivers in the past six months. After a video of racing buses on the Pollachi-Coimbatore highway appeared in April, the RTO had arrested the two drivers and withheld their licenses, as well as seizing 23 buses for overspeeding and endangering passengers’ lives.

Similar action was also taken when a second video emerged in June. Despite this however, drivers continue to be lackadaisical about passenger safety.