Mumbai school bus accident victim gets Rs16L compensation

A spree of mishaps concerning school buses in the past few
years seems to have woken up the authorities.

A Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) recently directed an insurance company to pay 22-year-old Rohit Mehra a compensation of Rs16.88 lakh with an interest of 7.5% per annum. Rohit was left physically disabled after he met with an accident while travelling on his school bus 11 years ago.

On January 6, 1999, Rohit was getting down from the bus, when the driver started to drive ahead. Rohit, 11 at the time, lost his balance and fell down on the road. The rear wheel of the bus then ran over his abdomen and he was dragged underneath the vehicle. He sustained severe injuries and was admitted to Sion Hospital.

Rohit had fractured his right leg bone, pelvis bone, degloving injury over perineal extending into both intestines. He has since then undergone more than 20 surgeries.

The MACT observed that the accident was because of sheer negligence of the driver. The tribunal directed the insurance company to invest Rs5 lakh in Rohit’s name in any nationalised bank for three years and allowed him to withdraw quarterly interest on the invested amount. The balance amount is to be paid to him by a cheque.

But, Pooja (name changed) was not this lucky. In September 2006, she was thrown out of a moving school bus after the driver made a sudden turn.

Pooja sustained two fractures on her head and now suffers from a life threatening disease, along with a psychological jolt.

According to her application, there was no bus conductor standing near the door at the time of the incident. According to the norms, a conductor or helper has to help the children alight from the bus.

Pooja’s father has filed a case to claim for compensation of Rs5 lakh from the insurance company. The case is pending in the tribunal.