Fines top Rs. 69.5 m from SP road rule violators

Mahinda P. Liyanage Galle Central special corr

The Mobile Unit of the Highway Patrol of the Southern Province has collected Rs. 69,532,800 as fines from road rule violators last year.

This amount has been charged only by "on the spot fine sheets".

These road offences have been detected along the highways from Bentota to Kataragama and from Ambalangoda to Elpitiya.

Driving without valid licence, vehicles plying without proper insurance cover and driving under the influence of liquor are some of the most common and repeated violations of highway laws, highlighted among the road offences. The total number of highway offences is 155,068.

Fines charged by judicial courts for the offences detected by the Highway Patrol Mobile Unit do not include the above value of fines.

The entire value of fines for driving without valid licence is Rs. 21,142,500 for 8,457 offences. A total of 27,249 individuals who have been found guilty of unlawful overtaking had been fined Rs. 13,624,500.

Twelve thousand high speed driving offenders were charged Rs. 12,638,000 while 16,167 drivers who had breached the highway law of left hand driving were fined Rs.8,083,500 during 2008.

Fifty traffic motor cycles have been provided for police officers deployed along the two main highways of the province.

The new program of highway patrolling in the Southern Province is controlled by the OIC of the Mobile Unit SI M.K.Rathnasiri under the direction of the head of the S.P. Highway Patrol ASP N. M. Sisira Kumara.