Strategies for a safer road environment - Part III:

Manpower and technical resources to meet new challenges

Camillus R Abeygoonewardena
Former Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic Administration and Road Safety)

The main objective of traffic law enforcement is to make road use safer and more efficient. The overall objective of traffic law enforcement and traffic regulations is primarily to serve as a deterrent for drivers from committing traffic offences.

Part II of this article was published yesterday

There is a greater need to enhance manpower and technical resources of the traffic Police to meet the new challenges, the enforcement strategies should be made to appear to be high profile with high tech equipment and engaging a fleet of unmarked Police cars to detect moving violations similar to motorized countries to increase the level of perception of motorists of being detected and its consequences. It is here the insurers have a greater role to play by assisting Police enforcement strategies.

It is equally important for the authorities conduct awareness programmes through the print and electronic media on safe driving, benefits of wearing seat belts and highlighting enforcement strategies to raise awareness and influencing road behaviour. Unless and until we move in this direction roads will continue to be unsafe more so during week ends taking a heavy casualty toll.

What Police divisions appear more vulnerable?

When accident data is analyzed it is patently clear that Police divisions where the main trunk roads the A category passes has the highest category of fatalities and road accidents for obvious reasons. On these trunk roads there is a serious conflict among fast moving long distance traffic comprising heavy commercial and commuter traffic and urban traffic. Parking issues, turning movements and culture of road use have created further conflicts.

The following Police Divisions carry the highest fatality rate in 2010.

Gampaha 141, Kelaniya 138, Nugegoda 129, Anuradhapura 119, Kurunegala and Ratnapura 114 each and Tangalle 105. Negombo, Kandy, and Kegalle are the next highest with 99, 98 and 91 respectively.

Police division		Fatality rate
Gampaha			141
Kelaniya		138
Nugegoda		129
Anuradhapura		119
Kurunegala		114
Ratnapura		114
Tangalle		105
Negombo			99
Kandy			98
Kegalle			91

When it relates to road accidents Kelaniya, Nugegoda, Colombo South and Gampaha and Mt.Lavinia Police divisions have registered the high rates of accidents. Galle, Kandy, Kegalle and Kurunegala divisions are in the next highest category.

Role of the insurance industry

Road safety policy and funding is the primary responsibility of the Central Government and its Provincial Governments. However, the private sector especially the insurance industry and allied organizations should play a more active role in dealing or tackling accident prevention with increased motorization and high accident claims. The approach as at present is totally inadequate in most developing countries including Sri Lanka in dealing with the rising trends in road accidents. Insurance companies will be the greatest beneficiaries in promoting safer roads.

The marketing strategies of insurance companies often appear to outsmart other competitors by offering unique advantages to policy holders to increase their client tale or offering no claim benefits and other minor perks to policy holders.

Presently, the role of the insurance companies is more or less limited to the post accident stage which involves vast sums being spent on compensation to settle accident claims. Instead motor insurance companies and allied organizations should play a pro-active role to prevent road accidents. They should get more involved with the Police and relevant authorities in working out road safety strategies and programmes to bring down accident rates, such action will bring about long term benefits which would be most rewarding to them. Experiences in motorized countries have proven this beyond doubt.

In several countries namely UK, Finland, Australia, Canada and other European countries such pro-active measures has resulted in drastic drop in road accidents bringing enormous financial benefits to insurance companies.

UK and several counties have introduced re-training programmes to drivers on defensive driving, advance driver training and on motorway driving etc; to fleet drivers of companies bringing tremendous benefits to insurers through accident reduction. In Sri Lanka they could look at assisting driver training institutes to upgrade their training standards and perhaps even testing standards to obtain a certificate of competence. They should also assist enforcement authorities to streamline and strengthen enforcement measures by way of funding resources.

Re-training programmes to educate motorcycle riders should be looked at as a matter of priority to curb their high accident rate. Such measures will also be perceived by the public that the motor insurance industry and allied organizations are socially responsible entities.

Their involvement should be actively sought and encouraged by the government.

Traffic law enforcement - its significance and purpose

To an outsider, respect and compliance with traffic regulations as well as enforcement of traffic laws is an index of respect for the Rule of Law in a society. Roads are high visibility public places where people can be seen at their best or worst.

The main objective of traffic law enforcement is to make road use safer and more efficient. The overall objective of traffic law enforcement and traffic regulations is primarily to serve as a deterrent for drivers from committing traffic offences. It is primarily meant to increase road user’s perception of the risk of being apprehended and its dreaded consequences.

Effective law enforcement does not mean maximizing the number of infringement notices issued to motorists. Much of today’s enforcement regrettably is directed towards maximizing infringement notices and not directed towards the overall objective.

More often the objective of enforcement of most traffic officers is inspection oriented. That is to satisfy senior Police officers on their performances. It is not performed to obtain its goal or objectives. Hence, the present infringement notices is of little consequence to reduce accidents. Even accident statistics at Police stations and divisions are limited for periodical inspections and nothing beyond.

If traffic law enforcement is to be effective, all citizens must be ‘Equal before the law’. Today certain strata of our society seems to be above the law and the society in general has very little respect for the law, so in such a scenario effective law enforcement seems doubly difficult in the foreseeable future.

Traffic law enforcement need to be directed more intensely on offences which have a direct bearing on road accidents, such as, excessive speeding, overtaking dangerously, aggressive driving, misuse of horn, turning or changing direction without signals, driving without due consideration for others, driving after alcohol and failing to stop at crossings and signals. In the enforcement arena the Police should implement the compulsory wearing of seat belts for front seat passengers and on expressways in the rear as well, this law unfortunately was in abeyance since 1994.

Effective Police presence and patrolling in marked and unmarked Police vehicles using high tech equipment such as automatic fixed speed cameras and use of calibrated speedo meters in unmarked Police cars would have a profound effect on driver behavior. For the time being engaging traffic officers in mufti armed with radio communication sets to detect moving violations would bring about a similar impact on road behaviour.

Research shows benefits of speed reduction are particularly high where pedestrians are concerned, the probability of pedestrian fatality reduces by about 80 percent at impact speed of 80 km/h or above to less than 10 percent at 30 km/h. If speed enforcement is to be effective by whatever measures adopted, it needs to be uniformly spread out for the day and must be intensive.

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