Bus drivers' licenses suspended after highway drag race

May 2 (UPI) -- Authorities in India said two bus drivers' licenses have been suspended after a viral video showed them in a dangerous drag race that nearly led to disaster.

The video, recorded by a motorcyclist and posted to the I Like Coimbatore group on Facebook, shows the two buses in a high-speed drag race on the Coimbatore-Pollachi highway in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

The video shows one of the buses trying to pass the other on the wrong side of the road and swerving off the road to avoid colliding with oncoming traffic.

The drivers were identified as employees of private companies ABS Ayyappa Bus Service and SVT Sreevelavan Transport. Their licenses have been suspended, district officials said.

Officials said there have been numerous problems with buses racing on the highway to be the first to arrive at stations to pick up passengers.

"We are exploring possibilities to increase the timing so that there is no incentive for buses to drive in such unsafe manner," Gayatri Krishnan, a Pollachi district official, told NDTV.