Road accidents take heavy human toll

*Six fatalities daily

*Human error accounts 75 percent of accidents

Ishara MUDUGAMUWA

Around 150 road accidents occur daily in Sri Lanka with six fatalities, the National Council for Road Safety disclosed yesterday.

Also on an average, there are 500 cases of those injured in road accidents on a daily basis. About 2,300 deaths were reported due to road accidents and 25,000 people were injured in 2009. In the last 10, years 21,059 people died from traffic accidents, said member of a select committee of Parliament to look into the alarming increase in traffic accidents, A.M. Nilamudeen participating at a press conference at the Information Department yesterday.

He said around 75 percent of accidents occur due to human error. These accidents can be prevented by the strict implementation of traffic laws and creating awareness on the magnitude of the accidents and its consequences, Nilamudeen said.

Participating at the press conference, DIG Traffic Asoka Wijethilake said that people will have to be partners of the process of reducing traffic accidents and the police can't do this alone.

"Careless driving, dangerous driving and drunken driving are main reasons for accidents. The Traffic Police conduct a number of programmes to make people aware of the reasons and how to prevent accidents. There is a 24 hour traffic service in the country to reduce these accidents," he said.

Transport Minister Kumara Welgama, Transport Ministry Secretary Dhammika Perera, Select Committee of Parliament to look into the alarming increase in traffic accidents Chairman P. Dayaratne, National Council for Road Safety Chairman Mano Wijeratne and WHO representatives participated.