The Kerala High Court has directed the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to take effective steps to prevent reckless driving by private buses in Kochi, including by increasing the time gap between buses that operate on the same routes.

The Transport department had mulled increasing the time gap between buses on the same routes in urban areas to a minimum of five minutes and in rural areas to 10 minutes to prevent undue competition and subsequent reckless driving that often resulted in accidents.

The High Court expressed angst at the RTA meeting not being convened so far, although it had ordered on August 8 to convene it within a fortnight. The government pleader said that a meeting had now been planned for September 29.

Traffic police

The court further said that traffic police personnel could be deployed at junctions on arterial stretches like Banerjee Road-Palarivattom and Pallimukku-Vyttila, instead of relying on signal lights at junctions, to lessen traffic congestion.

Using walkie-talkies, personnel would be able to communicate with one another, ensuring better traffic management. An amicus curiae report in this regard was submitted to the District Police Chief (Kochi City). The court said that police personnel would be able to help streamline traffic flow, depending on the snarls in different directions.