Imperatives of road safety
One of the perils of modern life
is deaths on the road. The higher the density of vehicles on the
road, the higher the speed with which they are driven and the
more the number of care-free drivers, riders and jay-walkers the
higher the number of road accidents.
The World Health Organisation has forecast that road
accidents would become the third highest threat to public health
by the year 2020. If present trends continue uninterruptedly
this may become true for Sri Lanka within the next decade.
At present there are over 2,000 deaths per year due to road
accidents. The National Hospital, Colombo says that one-fourth
or 25 percent of the patients admitted daily are victims of road
accidents.
Pedestrians account for over 45 percent of such victims.
Pedestrians, cyclists and motor cyclists account for nearly 80
percent of the victims.
Several factors are responsible for the extremely large
number of accidents. Faulty road construction, dilapidated
roads, neglect of road rules including fast driving and the use
of un-roadworthy vehicles are some of them.
It is necessary to improve on the road safety policies, rules
and regulations to suit the present day. Awareness campaigns on
safe use of roads would also go a long way in reducing the
number of accidents. Better monitoring of traffic violations and
rehabilitating errant drivers and riders are other necessities.
Emergency assistance for road accident victims should be made
available for much depends on the time factor in saving the
lives of victims.
Strict specifications should be laid down for road
engineering from the design stage with a view to reducing the
number of accidents. The ugly practice of ripping the prepared
roads for pipe-laying by various agencies should be stopped.
Instead special space should be left on the outer edges of roads
to lay pipes, cables and other such necessary equipment.
Dangerous lamp posts in the road edges or even in the road
centres should be removed.
As the statistics showed pedestrians are the most endangered
of the road users. It is necessary to increase the number of
zebra crossings for their convenience. More overhead bridges and
subways should be built for pedestrians to cross busy roads,
especially at road intersections. Cyclists, motor cyclists and
three-wheelers should be provided with special lanes so that
they do not obstruct other fast moving vehicular traffic.
The increase of road accidents has also become an economic
burden. As our yesterday’s issue reported accidents cause an
estimated loss of Rs 15 billion per year to the national
economy. This is an amount higher than the total allocation for
Samurdhi beneficiaries.
Besides, the loss due to deaths and permanent disabilities
could not be counted in monetary terms.
Hence, the new Government that would be formed after the
elections will have to give priority to taking steps to halt the
trend of increasing accidents, workout a comprehensive road
safety policy and implement it with vigour. The objective of
such a policy would be to ensure safer drivers, safer vehicles
and safer road infrastructure. Further, a mandatory periodic
road safety audits should be a part of such a policy and action
plan. In certain countries there are dedicated agencies such as
Road Safety Boards and Road Safety Secretariats to ensure road
safety. An information data base on road accidents and their
management is also a vital need. It is necessary to harness
support from the private sector and community organisations in
implementing such a policy.
Akon affair
The Government has denied a visa for American pop singer Akon
to visit the country for a concert. This was a sequel to
concerns raised by various quarters regarding overt
anti-Buddhist sentiments of the singer or his past record of
ignoring the religious susceptibilities of the Buddhists during
his performances.
While this is understandable what is surprising is that
neither the organisers nor the sponsors had thought it fit to
examine this aspect of the singer’s activities before organising
the event. Had they looked into it prior to sending him an
invitation, the unpleasantness of refusing a visa would not have
arisen.
The fact that a government organisation such as the Tourist
Board and an institution linked to it failed to take cognizance
of the religious susceptibilities of the people does not augur
well since tourism is an area which if not handled diligently
and vigilantly could lead to cultural invasions that could harm
indigenous culture and civilization. |