'Sleeper buses are death traps; they should be banned, not improved'

India’s increasingly popular long‑distance “sleeper bus” services are drawing scrutiny after road‑safety advocates raised concerns over their risks and regulatory compliance. This call for action comes days after the bus fire that killed 20 people near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

On a widely‑shared LinkedIn post,  Shrikant M  Vaidya, former Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, highlighted a host of problems associated with these vehicles, including obscured windows, minimal space to move, limited or no emergency exits, and a general lack of passenger awareness.

You cannot regulate a fire-trap. You can only remove it.

The post argued that while these services may appear convenient and cost‑effective, the design compromises often make evacuation during emergencies extremely difficult.

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"As someone who spent decades in the hazardous oil sector—where every oversight could mean disaster—these recurring bus infernos are impossible to ignore. Safety is achieved only through rigor, discipline and zero compromise," Vaidya added.

Silent victims

In his post, Vaidya wrote: “When the bunk‑style layout gives you no clear view of the road, the passengers become silent victims. With only one narrow aisle and emergency windows that are hard to reach, the evacuation time becomes a matter of life and death.”

According to Vaidya, the buses’ enclosed compartments and berth‑style cabins can hamper visibility for both passengers and drivers, and significantly delay rescue operations in the event of fire, accident or rollover. He warned that without adequate regulation, design standards and enforcement, sleeper buses may become a major public‑safety liability.

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"October alone saw 41 deaths in two separate fires — 19 in Kurnool and 20 in rural Rajasthan. In the past decade, over 130 passengers have died in sleeper-bus fires across India — almost always trapped, asleep, unable to escape in those first 20–30 critical seconds. This is not misfortune; this is engineering failure," he wrote.

Driven by demand

Transport‑industry insiders say that the growth of the sleeper‑bus model is driven by demand for overnight travel, particularly on busy corridors. However, they concede that India’s vehicle safety framework has not kept pace with this evolving segment. Key concerns include whether these buses conform to crash‑safety norms, whether emergency lighting and exit routes are sufficient, and whether drivers receive specific training for this format of service.

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Vaidya's post urged regulators including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and state transport authorities to conduct detailed audits of sleeper‑bus operators, enforce cabin layout standards, and launch passenger awareness campaigns. He emphasised that cost‑saving should never come at the expense of human safety.

China, Vietnam examples

"Across the world, regulators acted once they acknowledged the design was non-survivable," said Vaidya. "China banned sleeper buses outright in 2012. Vietnam rewrote safety codes and evacuation architecture. Germany restricts sleeper layouts to controlled, low-density formats."

"You cannot regulate a fire-trap. You can only remove it," he further said. "The only legitimate and rational response is a total ban on sleeper buses in their current form. Night travel must be a promise of arrival — not a lottery of survival."