Over 1000 road accidents during first quarter

Irangika RANGE

The first quarter of this year witnessed over 1,000 motor traffic accidents which had been mainly due to fatigue, high speed and driving under the influence of liquor. According to Traffic Police figures from January 1 to March 31 this year, there had been 1,011 road accidents that resulted in 3,446 persons being injured and 598 deaths.

The number of road accidents in Sri Lanka during 2011, had reached 40,887 with 2,471 deaths and 13,410 suffering injuries.

Over half (51 percent) among those killed had been pedestrians, bicycle and motorcycle riders.

Other main causes of road accidents have been violation of road rules, reckless driving, and negligence by pedestrians, according to National Transport Commission chairman Roshan Gunawardene.

In 2011, 225 school children had been killed and another 4,100 injured in motor traffic accidents.

The NTC chairman said that statistics on road accidents have revealed the need to pay immediate attention to road safety and educate the public regarding traffic rules.

He said President Mahinda Rajapaksa too had underscored the need for urgent action to change this situation and urged the authorities concerned, to take stern action against pedestrians as well as drivers who violate traffic rules.

“It is not possible to move ahead on the road to Sustainable Development without increasing and improving the standards of human safety on roads,” the chairman said.

He said the NTC had already commenced a series of workshops to educate private bus owners, drivers and conductors on road safety.

The first workshop had already been conducted in the Nuwara Eliya district, while the next workshop was to be held in Hambantota.

Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Transport Board has set up accident prevention committees in each depot to educate their drivers and conductors on how to prevent road accidents.

A competition to select the depot with minimum accidents is also underway.