Bus drivers have to be trained to follow rules and police should more actively discipline these rogue buses to make the city’s roads safer, said the grandson of a 77-year-old woman who was crushed to death near her home at the end of her morning walk on Monday.

Reckless buses have been a concern for many Calcuttans. Two families lost members because of them on Monday.

The rear wheels of a school bus went over Shanti Devi Singh, 77, near Wellington Square when she was trying to cross the road around 7am.

About two hours later and barely 3km away, 44-year-old Reshmi Roy came under the wheels of a private bus that she had just got off.

“In the stretch between KC Das (Esplanade) and Moulali, I see buses dangerously trying to overtake each other every day. Pedestrians like my grandmother are left at the mercy of such reckless driving. Lucky one day and maybe not so lucky some other day,” said Alok Singh, grandson of Shanti Devi.

Shanti Devi came under the wheels of the school bus near the Lenin Sarani-Nirmal Chandra Street crossing at 7.10am, around the time when most school buses ferry children to school. The bus on Monday hit the elderly woman after dropping off children at a central Calcutta school.

In most cases, chartered buses or pool cars are a private arrangement between parents and owners.

In the absence of school monitoring, their accountability is hazy, if at all, and schools are more than happy to wash their hands off any responsibility.

In the morning, before the office rush takes over and the roads are empty, rogue driving is even more rampant.

Buses crawl up to a point and then suddenly pick up speed near intersections to avoid red lights.

The father of a kindergarten child, Alok takes his daughter to her Esplanade school on a bike every morning.

“Drivers have to be cautious and there has to be better CCTV surveillance. There have to be more campaigns to make drivers understand the consequences of their actions. The police should be strict on offenders. There have to be changes, else more such accidents are waiting to happen,” said Alok.

“The accident with my grandmother happened on the main road and not some bylane. How did the driver not see her?” Alok asked.

He suggested there be measures to ensure there are no blind spots for bus drivers.

Ideally, a bus should have protruding rear-view mirrors in front to ensure the driver can see the lower front corners. Most buses in the city don’t have them. No one tells them to install them either.

“The accident that crushed my grandmother’s head has left us traumatised. We are still in shock and need some time to come to terms with it,” Alok said.

The bus driver, Murari Samanta, 53, was arrested and charged with causing death due to negligence.