On July 11, 2026, I was driving carefully on a public road in Kollam, the same way any responsible driver shares the road, when a KSRTC bus collided with my vehicle and left the scene without stopping. A police complaint has been filed and a First Information Report is being processed. This piece isn't about that single driver — it's about what an incident like this reveals about how a large public fleet is run.
WHAT HAPPENED
A KSRTC ordinary bus (fleet code RAE841) collided with my vehicle near a fuel station in Kollam and continued on without stopping. I was able to photograph the bus's registration and fleet code clearly enough to identify it. A formal complaint has been submitted to Kollam East Police Station, and the matter is currently with the investigating authorities.
Thirty years in administration and facilities management teaches you one thing above all: an organization's frontline behavior is a direct reflection of its internal systems — not an accident of individual character. A driver who flees a collision isn't necessarily a bad person having a bad day. More often, it's a sign of what the organization has and hasn't built around him: monitoring, consequence, and a culture that expects him to stop.
🚍 Why This Isn't Just One Incident
KSRTC operates thousands of vehicles across Kerala every day, most of them without dashcams or real-time GPS monitoring accessible to a central compliance authority. When something goes wrong, there is often no independent record beyond what a member of the public happens to capture — as I did here.
That's a structural gap, not a personal failing of any one driver. A fleet this size, funded significantly by public money, should not be relying on citizens with a camera phone to document accountability.
And it's worth saying plainly: this isn't a new pattern. Anyone who shares Kerala's roads regularly recognizes the tailgating, the lane-crowding, the assumption that a heavy vehicle has the right of way simply because of its size. It's a familiar attitude behind the wheel — one incident becomes visible because a phone happened to catch the plate, but the driving culture behind it is nothing new to daily commuters.
💰 The Financial Reality
KSRTC operates at a loss and depends on regular state support to stay running. Public money keeps the buses on the road — which is precisely why public accountability for how those buses are operated matters. Every settlement, every disciplinary gap, and every erosion of commuter trust that pushes riders toward private alternatives adds pressure to an already strained institution.
🛠️ What a Proper Fix Looks Like
DUAL-FACING DASHCAMS AND GPS — WITH INDEPENDENT ACCESS
Some KSRTC vehicles already carry dashcams, but a camera only creates real accountability if its footage is independently retrievable — pulled and reviewed by a compliance authority outside the depot's own chain of command, with a fixed retention period and a clear chain of custody. A camera that records but whose footage can be lost, delayed, or withheld at local discretion isn't oversight; it's a camera pointed at nothing. The hardware is only half the fix — the access protocol around it is what actually determines whether it protects the public or just the institution.
A CLEAR, ENFORCED HIT-AND-RUN PROTOCOL
Any operator involved in a collision who fails to stop should face immediate suspension pending inquiry, with the process handled consistently and transparently — not case by case.
AN INDEPENDENT COMPLIANCE REVIEW BODY
Discipline and safety retraining decisions should sit with a dedicated compliance function, insulated from local pressures, so outcomes are consistent regardless of route, depot, or driver seniority.
None of this is punitive for its own sake. It's the same operational discipline any well-run fleet — public or private — needs to keep both its passengers and the public around it safe.
I've submitted my complaint and I'm letting the process run its course.
I'll share how KSRTC and the police respond — because accountability that only exists on paper isn't accountability at all.