Close call for 44 passengers after drunk driver crashes MSRTC bus into median

Pune: As many as 44 passengers on board an MSRTC bus escaped unharmed in a stroke of luck when the driver crashed the Pune-Solapur vehicle into a median while under the influence of alcohol.
The incident happened near Kalbhor lawns in Kadamvak Vasti on the Pune-Solapur highway around 12.30am on Wednesday.
Senior inspector Rajendra Panhale of the Loni Kalbhor police said, "We received information that irate passengers had caught the driver and accused him of driving the bus dangerously under the influence of alcohol. We took him into custody. He was reeking of alcohol. We sent him to the Sassoon General Hospital where his blood samples were taken."
Panhale said, "The hospital's medical officer certified the bus driver was under the influence of alcohol. We have sent the blood samples to the forensic science laboratory for expert opinion. MSRTC authorities did not subject the driver to a breath analyser test before he boarded the bus to drive. The man was booked under section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act and a notice was served to him directing him to join the police in investigations."
Divisional controller of MSRTC, Pune division, Pramod Nehul told TOI the bus belonged to the Dharashiv depot. "The accident happened because the driver was drunk. He was suspended pending departmental inquiry. There were no injuries in the accident, but the bus was damaged," he said.
He said that there is a procedure under which drivers who are about to start a trip have to go through a breath analyser test.
"It is followed stringently, but it seems the driver stopped the bus somewhere en route and consumed liquor. Investigations are on," he said.
Meanwhile, the bus driver had claimed that the passengers implicated him wrongly in a drunk driving case.
He had only lost control over the vehicle and crashed into a median.