Driver Lets Monkey Drive Bus With 30 Passengers, Suspended [Video]

A bus driver was suspended Saturday after a video of him letting a monkey steer the vehicle in the Indian state of Karnataka went viral.

In the video, the driver is seen with the monkey in his lap and the animal appears to be steering the bus. He is seen shifting gears and patting the primate while also taking hold of the wheel from time to time. The monkey is seen watching the road and occasionally even making a spin.

According to local reports, the monkey boarded the bus with a school teacher and sat along with him before jumping onto the steering wheel. There were 30 passengers on the bus when the incident took place on Oct. 1. The monkey eventually reached its "destination" and let the driver carry on with his duty.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) spokesperson T.S. Latha said the driver, M. Prakash, 36, has been taken off duty for allowing the primate to drive the vehicle.

“An inquiry is being conducted into the incident. As safety of passengers is paramount, a driver cannot risk the life of passengers by allowing a monkey to sit on the steering and handle it,” she said.

“We learnt about the incident through social media on the next day (October 2) after a video clip showing Prakash and the monkey at the steering went viral on WhatsApp. The video of the incident was uploaded on WhatsApp by a fellow passenger who shot it,” Latha added.

Another KSRTC official too confirmed the suspension saying, "We have removed the driver from duty and have asked the divisional security inspector to conduct an inquiry.”

In a similar incident in 2015, a monkey took a bus under its control before the driver finally managed to regain control of the vehicle in the Indian city of Uttar Pradesh. The incident occurred after the conductor of the bus left the vehicle in search of passengers while the driver took a nap in the back seat half an hour prior to the departure. Though the incident did not cost any human loss, two other parked buses were damaged.