Screen grab of reckless driving of a private bus in Kochi
Kochi : The high court on Friday came down heavily on private bus operators for reckless racing on city roads and questioned the police and other authorities for turning a blind eye to such violations, asking orally whether the city police commissioner and other officials were “sleeping”. The court also criticised the “heroism” displayed by private bus drivers on the roads, as seen in movies. A bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran made the remarks while considering petitions concerning traffic and the condition of roads in Kochi. During the hearing, the bench was shown visuals of shocking incidents involving dangerous overtaking by buses and accidents in Kochi and Kannur. Pointing to the scenes, the bench questioned how officials could fail to take action against such violations despite their potential to cause fatal accidents. “The city has a police commissioner, a traffic commissioner and a district police chief.