KSRTC Driver Uses Phone Torch After Headlight Failure on Sringeri Route

A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver navigated a pitch-dark highway stretch using a mobile phone torch and parking lights after the vehicle's headlights failed at night, prompting safety concerns after video footage circulated widely on social media. The incident took place on the Sringeri-Chikkamagaluru stretch near Jayapura on a route headed toward Chikkaballapur via Bengaluru.

The bus had departed from Sringeri at around 10:00 PM. After travelling only a short distance, the vehicle's headlights abruptly stopped functioning. Despite the complete loss of forward illumination, the driver continued operating the bus for a distance, relying solely on the beam from a mobile phone torch and the bus's parking lights to navigate the dark road.

A video clip of the driver steering while attempting to light up the road went viral online, with social media posts claiming that the vehicle had been driven without functioning headlights across the entire route to Chikkamagaluru.

Following the public reaction, KSRTC Chikkamagaluru Divisional Controller Basavaraj issued a clarification regarding the incident. He confirmed that the bus was on a scheduled long-distance trip from Sringeri to Chikkaballapur via Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, and Bengaluru, but refuted allegations that the bus completed the journey in the dark.

According to Basavaraj, the headlights developed a technical snag a short distance past Jayapura. Because Jayapura was close by, the driver stopped the vehicle there rather than continuing the long-distance trip in that condition.

Passengers on board were asked to alight at Jayapura and were shifted to an alternate bus belonging to the KGF depot to resume their journey. The original bus later reached Chikkamagaluru the following morning, where technicians repaired the faulty headlight before the vehicle was permitted to proceed onward to Chikkaballapur.