Noiseless e-buses blamed for fatal accidents in Bengaluru: Report
Bengaluru: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has been linked to four fatal accidents involving its buses over the past month.
According to report published by The New Indian Express on Saturday, one of the main contributing factors to these accidents is the use of electric buses, which are noted for their sudden acceleration and harsh braking systems.
Sources quoted in the report pointed out that the drivers of these buses are not appointed by BMTC, but by companies that operate those buses on Gross Cost Contract (GCC).
Nataraj Sharma, president of the Federation of Karnataka Private Transport Associations, which represents private buses, cabs, and autos, highlighted that drivers recruited directly by BMTC have to undergo rigorous tests. “But electric buses are operated by drivers who are hired by private companies. These drivers, who were operating light motor vehicles earlier, are given such big electric buses, leading to accidents,” Sharma alleged.
Another reason for the accidents is the near-noiseless movement of these buses, which makes it difficult for both vehicle users and pedestrians to detect them by sound.
After repeated complaints about the sudden acceleration and harsh braking of electric buses—problems that have led to injuries for both passengers and other road users—BMTC conducted driver workshops earlier this year. However, it appears that the workshops have not been effective in preventing such incidents, added the report.
BMTC’s Chief Traffic Manager (Operations), GT Prabhakar Reddy, defended the corporation, stating that of the four fatalities, three were not caused by the fault of BMTC drivers.
“Every time an accident happens, we analyse footage from all the CCTV cameras fitted in our buses and take action against drivers if they are at fault. But in the three cases, they were not,” TNIE quoted Reddy as saying. He also expressed frustration over BMTC drivers being blamed even when they are not at fault, adding that if everyone followed traffic rules, accidents could be prevented.
In an effort to reduce accidents, BMTC plans to conduct "refresher training" for its 12,000 drivers. The training will focus on three key areas: accident prevention, adherence to traffic rules, and stress management.
“We will play videos on how to avoid accidents. When we train drivers by showing them videos, they understand better. We have enough videos recorded by dash cams of BMTC buses, where our drivers have prevented accidents,” Reddy explained. The training will be conducted in batches of 50 drivers across seven BMTC zonal offices.
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Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and 'Godfather' mainstay, dead at 95
Los Angeles (AP): Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95.
Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented."
The bald, wiry Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few "character actors" enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin.
Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals.
They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for "Tender Mercies," which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove," a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when "The Godfather," released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, "The Rain People," with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others.
Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the centre of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of The Godfather?'”
In another Coppola film, "Apocalypse Now," Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigour enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of em, not one stinkin' dink body.
"The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: "Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby's hot after one or two takes."
