Letter: No safety on VIP bus
On Friday, October 9 I had a harrowing experience on a VIP bus I boarded on a trip to Kumasi, which brought to the fore, how public transport operators take passengers’ safety for granted.
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Just after Nsawam, the bus suddenly developed a fault and the driver was compelled to stop to check out what the fault was. Without knowing what the fault was, the driver turned off the ignition, and without the slightest apology to the passengers, got out of the bus.
After 10 minutes, there was no word from either the driver or his conductor and it was only when some worried passengers inquired that we got to know the enormity of the problem. We were stuck in the bus as apparently the problem had affected the entire system.
The ignition could not start so the only door would not open. Worst of all, there were no emergency exits and the hammers provided to be used to break the glass windows in such emergency cases had all been removed!
It took almost 25 minutes before the conductor admitted that we were stuck and he had no clue how we were going to get out of the bus. This made the anxious passengers shout since the air-conditioner was not functioning and the heat was thus unbearable; near suffocation.
Anxiety eventually gave way to reality as finally a small outlet at the driver's window was identified as the only escape route. It was not a pleasant experience as passengers of different sizes were compelled to go through that small opening.
Even though the driver realised that it was not possible to take us to our destinations, he refused to call Accra for a new bus; rather, passengers were made to perch on the steps of other filled-to-capacity Kumasi-bound VIP buses, after paying GH¢40.00!
And in all these, the driver was only concerned about his broken-down vehicle and didn't see the need to apologise. Rather, he took offence when the passengers tried to draw his attention to his attitude.
Thankfully the horrible experience ended without any incident, and only God knows what would have happened, if it was an accident or a worse scenario.
As a country, we take a lot of things for granted and what happened is just a confirmation of this. If we would pay more attention to safety measures, many lives would be saved.