Chevella bus tragedy highlights need for ADAS in TGSRTC buses

Following the Chevella bus tragedy, the demand for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in Telangana RTC buses has grown. Studies show that AI-based alert systems reduced highway accidents by 40 per cent in pilot projects on selected routes across the State

Hyderabad: The recent Chevella bus tragedy has reignited discussions on the urgent need for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in public transport vehicles.

As many as 19 persons died and over a dozen were injured when a Telangana RTC bus collided head-on with a gravel-laden tipper on the Hyderabad–Bijapur highway.

---

The ADAS system provides real-time alerts to drivers on maintaining a safe following distance and warns of imminent collisions with vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists or stray animals. It also gives lane-departure alerts to prevent unintentional drifting.

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) had earlier commissioned a technical study on integrating ADAS across its fleet to improve safety standards.

This Artificial Intelligence-powered alert system, installed in some RTC buses as part of a pilot project, has earlier helped reduce accidents on highways by up to 40 per cent, according to a study.

To curb road crashes on highways, the system was fitted in buses operating on three national highways in the State — Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Hyderabad-Nagpur.

It is learnt that the number of fatal road accidents between March 2023 and April 2024 involving State transport buses on the selected highway corridors was 40 per cent lower in buses equipped with ADAS devices compared to those without the system.

Spearheaded by INAI — a joint initiative of IIIT-Hyderabad, the Telangana government and Intel — the project focuses on using AI to address road safety, mobility and healthcare challenges.

Aiming to reduce accident rates in India, the group has been conducting pilot studies of ADAS technology developed by Mobileye (an Intel company), where a camera mounted on the vehicle’s windshield scans the road ahead and uses algorithms to track potential risks to safety.

If the system detects a possible risk of collision, it gives both audio and visual warnings to the driver. However, it is learnt that the large-scale implementation has been delayed due to budget constraints, procedural approvals, and the need for coordination between State and Central government authorities before issuing tenders.

Official sources said that once approved, the project could significantly enhance road safety and accident prevention, especially on high-risk routes where heavy vehicles and long-distance buses operate frequently.