Taking a serious note of accidents caused because the driver is driving as well as answering or making a call on his mobile, the Tamil Nadu government has imposed a blanket ban on all drivers of transport corporations even taking mobile phones along with them in the buses.

State Transport Secretary Atulya Mishra, in a press release on Sunday, said that managing directors of the various tranpsort corporations have been asked to implement the ban. The managing directors have been told to instruct transport supervisors to ensure that drivers left behind their phones before getting behind the wheel.

Warning drivers of stringent action if they were found carrying cell phones with them when on duty, Mishra said that directives have been issued to examiners to keep a strict vigil.

The statement said that the Government had receieved several complaints of drivers talking over the phone while driving, leading to accidents.

Stating that the Government had taken the decision for the safety of bus passengers as also that of others on the road, it called upon transport corporation drivers to cooperate with the management.

The release does not give any telephone number or address for people to lodge complaints if they found bus drivers talking on the phone while driving. Talking on the mobile while driving has long been made an offence and the traffic police had been cracking down on other motorists but government transport corporation drivers seldom got pulled up for any traffic violation.

Source: Expressbuzz.com