Road accidents cause Rs 9.34 b economic loss annually

Indunil HEWAGE

Road accidents in Sri Lanka cause Rs 9.34 billion or $ 81 million economic loss each year, of which theHealth Services Ministry alone will have to bear approximately Rs 3-4 billion each year .

This was revealed by the Sri Lanka National Hospital Accident Service Director, U.P Ariyawansa. Each year1.4 million people are killed by road accidents globally causing $ 516 billion economic loss.

Speeding, drunk driving, overtaking, sudden turning and use of unroadworthy vehicles are considered the main reasons for fatal road accidents in Sri Lanka,where one fatal road accident takes place every four hours. Sri Lanka has 4.5 million registered vehicles, of which half are motorbikes which account for 55 percent of road accidents whilst 13 percent from three wheelers and 12 percent from pedestrians' recklessness on roads.

According to Sri Lanka Traffic Police sources, in 2010, 2,630 people were killed from road accidents and 2,684 deaths were reported in 2011.

In 2011, the total number of non grievous road accidents were 18,331 while during the first four months of this year,6,099 non grievous road accidents took place. In 2011, fatal accidents caused by motorbikes were 711 and 413 from lorries, 321 from private buses and 224 from three-wheelers.