Kolkata, Aug 12 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday stressed the need for a stringent law against those responsible for road accidents and urged transport operators to curb reckless speeding of buses.


"In most cases of road accidental deaths, the guilty go free. The law in this regard is weak. There is an immediate need for a stringent law that will act as a deterrent for the wrongdoers,” said Banerjee at a function in a city hospital.

She said a number of accidents and traffic snarls happened because buses speed to compete with rival buses.

“The bus drivers just to earn extra commission often overspeed and drive rashly resulting in accidents and deaths. In their effort to overtake rival buses, they often create traffic snarls and accidents. I urge the operators to chalk out a proper system to curb this habit.”

Banerjee also said because of legal hassles, people often refrain from taking accident victims to hospitals.

“They apprehend that the authorities might hold them guilty for the accident. I therefore request the police and the medical people to cooperate with such people so that they may be encouraged to bring the victims.”

She said trauma ambulances are being strategically placed in the different parts of the city to help rush accident victims to hospitals. The city would also get several trauma hospitals in the near future.