On the 26th September 2011, we people heard about the accident that occurred in Channankara. Again a school bus that fell into the Parvathi Puthanar canal in less than 8 months, killing four students of Jyothi Nilayam HSS... I was glued to the television watching the news.
At first, the media informed that it was the driver who was at fault. In less than an hour, there was flash news – “The conductor of the bus was driving at the time of the accident.” Various news was flashed at different points of time. The news was so …. The driver lost control while a dog jumped across the vehicle, the cleaner was driving the bus, he was talking over his mobile phone while driving and so went the news. The reporters were interviewing witnesses and they said that the driver was not over speeding. I was not sure whether to believe the news or not.
The next day’s newspapers said that the driver was the first accused. Everywhere I heard people blaming the driver for the tragedy. Personally I do have an aversion for these drivers (all public carrier drivers) as they pay the slightest respect for traffic rules. But in this case, I somehow felt the driver was not wrong. What was the mistake that the driver did???? Was he careless in his driving???
The news that I heard was that the dog jumped from a high wall. It is quite natural for a driver to lose control in such a situation. Can you blame the driver for this???? If I were in that driver’s seat I could have killed everyone including me in that bus, in such a situation.
All of us sympathize with the parents of the dead students. It is indeed very sad. How many of us will sympathize with the driver????? Have we ever thought of the mental agony that he is going through????? He is being scorned as a killer of four students. The driver will have to live the rest of his life in shame and guilt. He may have to choose another job to earn his living. Who knows if he will ever do that????
The media was celebrating on the tragedy. They got news to fill their prime time. It is the second time that I am coming across wrong information being telecast on television. I think the media has lost its ethics. All that they need are sensational or tragic news to get viewers. They don’t care about human feelings. Who cares about other people’s feelings as long they are sensational news, right?????!!!!!
