Speed isn’t the only killer on roads - EDITORIAL

In its first six months the year 2024 had seen 1,103 road accidents in Sri Lanka in which 1,154 fatalities have been reported, according to State Minister of Transport, Lasantha Alagiyawanna. He pointed out at a press conference held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) on July 11 that there were 2,557 deaths in 2,200 traffic accidents in 2023. 

In another media report published last year quoting government official data, it was said that at least one person has died in 10 road accidents every three hours in Sri Lanka since 2016. This shows an average 2,920 deaths in a year and there seems to be a slight improvement in the situation since last year. Some say that the daily average deaths in road accidents in the country were higher than that of the thirty-year separatist war. 

According to data released by the Police Motor Traffic Department, on average, eight people have died daily due to road accidents between 2016 and 2023. The data showed 20,728 people have been killed in road accidents in the seven-and-half year between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2023 in 223,451 accidents. 

The same report observed that Sri Lanka’s motor traffic deaths since 2016 have been over 120 per 1 million inhabitants. This rate is far higher than that of United States (13) and Japan (3), as per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) data for 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) in a 2022 report said approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes and more than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. It also said road traffic crashes cost most countries 3 percent of their gross domestic product.  

However, as in the issues of the ethnic problem, economic problems, disaster mitigation and many others, our leaders never had a consistent policy or plan to mitigate road accidents to an acceptable level. Last year, Alagiyawanna had told media that the government is in the process of introducing a demerit points system for traffic offenses and it expects to implement it from January 1, 2024. “Under this system, a driver who accumulates 24 demerit points will have his or her driving license cancelled immediately,” the minister said.

However, he stated during the July 11 media briefing that the National Council for Road Safety (NCRS) has allocated Rs. 50 million to the Police to purchase speed-control equipment. He added Road Safety Clubs will be set up at the school-level to educate students on the importance of obeying road rules. 

The minister told media this month that the Ministry of Transport will issue a gazette with the new road speed limit regulations within the next two weeks whereas he told exactly a year ago, on July 26, 2023 that “a new speed limit regulation and the gazette notification is being prepared.” 

A study published in 2022 identifies six reasons for major road accidents namely, overtaking, diversion, speed driving, alcohol consumption of drivers, negligence of pedestrians, and mechanical fault of vehicles. There may be other factors as well such as the age of the driver and the condition of the roads. Following a recent health checkup by the Kuliyapitiya MOH office, it was revealed that SLTB employees including drivers in Kuliyapitiya were at high risk for hypertension, a condition often referred to as a ‘silent killer.’ 

In fact, this could not be a situation confined only to the Kuliyapitiya area given the stressful nature of Sri Lanka’s public transport sector. The issue might definitely have affected in an intensified manner the private bus crews that are always engaged in a dangerous race with each other and always engage in brawls with the passengers. Hence, road discipline cannot be established only with speed limit equipment, gazette notifications or other haphazard measures. It has various and deeper root causes hence the remedy should be based on a comprehensive scientific study and should be implemented with a firm commitment.