A Viral KSRTC Bus Video Raises an Important Question: How Safe Are Our Buses on the Road?

A video showing a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus making a risky manoeuvre on the road has gone viral on social media, triggering a heated debate among viewers over who was actually at fault.

The footage, shared on Facebook by MoNu Punalur, shows the KSRTC bus moving alongside traffic before making a sudden manoeuvre that leaves little room between the bus and the vehicle recording the incident. The video has since been widely shared, with viewers closely examining the actions of both vehicles.

But it is the reaction to the video that makes the incident worth looking at beyond the footage itself.

Who Was Actually at Fault?

Several viewers have criticised the KSRTC driver, describing the manoeuvre as reckless and dangerous. Others have questioned whether the vehicle recording the incident also contributed to the situation.

Some comments point to the size and limited manoeuvrability of a bus. Others argue that professional drivers carrying passengers have an added responsibility to maintain greater caution around other road users.

That difference in opinion is important. Watch the full video here.

A short social media clip rarely captures everything that happened before the moment recorded on camera. It does not show the full traffic situation, the preceding manoeuvres or the decisions made by either driver. It is therefore difficult to establish responsibility from the video alone.

But it does raise a legitimate road-safety question.

The Bigger KSRTC Safety Picture

According to figures reported in April 2026, KSRTC buses were involved in 8,522 accidents over 10 years, with 899 deaths. The figure includes both major and minor accidents.

The number does not establish that driver behaviour caused all these incidents. Road conditions, traffic, vehicle condition and other factors can also influence accidents.

Kerala’s road-transport system already has speed controls. The state revised speed limits in 2023, including limits for vehicles carrying more than nine passengers. Depending on the road category, the permitted speed ranges from 50 km/h within corporation and municipality limits to 95 km/h on six-lane national highways.

The state had also increased the maximum speed setting for buses from 60 km/h to 70 km/h in 2023, with speed governors to be adjusted accordingly.

Rules Are Only One Part of Road Safety

A speed governor can limit a vehicle’s maximum speed. It cannot, by itself, prevent unsafe lane changes, close manoeuvring, aggressive overtaking or poor judgement in traffic.

The need of the hour, therefore, is not simply to identify who was wrong in one viral video. It is to build a system in which unsafe behaviour is detected early, drivers receive continuous training, vehicles are properly monitored and corrective action follows when necessary.

For millions of passengers, the expectation is simple: a bus should not only get them where they are going. It should get them there safely.

The viral KSRTC video may never provide a definitive answer to the question of who was at fault. But it does leave the bus industry with a more important question: are existing safety systems doing enough to prevent the next incident before it happens?