Mumbai: Four Regional transport officials have been reported to be injured while conducting tests which are mandatory to ensure the safety of drivers and commuters.
The officials were hurt while conducting tests meant to check the vehicles’ brakes.
According to the Sources, these officers were injured due to their failure to lock the tempo cabins which led to the accident as soon as the officers hit the brakes. Four officials have been injured in three accidents while conducting tests meant to check the vehicle’s brakes.
The accidents videos have gone viral which shows the temp’s driver’s cabin falls forward as soon as the officers hit the brakes of the vehicles.
The recent incident occurred at the Baramati RTO test track on 29 October, where Assistant inspector Abhijeet Tarakase suffered minor injuries during the driving.
Similar accidents have been reported to occur at Panvel and Pune. The inspector at Panvel is reported to have suffered minor injuries while the two officers are reported to have been injured severely in Pune.
The RTO officials said it was likely that these drivers who might have opened the cabin to check the engine and chassis numbers, along with speed-limiting devices, unfortunately, forgot to lock it back before conducting the test.
An RTO official says “The cabin dives when brakes are suddenly applied. The force could have dislodged the lock, causing the accident”.
Currently the tests directed by the Bombay High Court to the transport department are conducted on open public roads due to the absence of proper test tracks or automated testing centres.
A senior RTO official says “You cannot test hundreds of vehicles on public roads”.
A suggestion to install an alarm which goes off when the tempos locks have not been secured was given by a retired RTO official.