Road accidents soar

Irangika Range

Around 16,317 road accidents were reported during the first five months of this year, out of which 871 were fatal. There were 2,718 major accidents, 5,933 minor accidents and 6,795 "damage only" accidents during the same period, statistics revealed.

Most accidents occurred when the vehicles were overtaking and others due to speeding, drunk driving, mechanical defects in vehicles, negligence of pedestrians and motorists, unfavourable road conditions and driver fatigue.

In terms of vehicles involved, those figuring in a majority of the accidents were motorcycles, lorries, buses and three-wheelers.

A total of 378 Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLCTB) buses and 1,187 private buses were involved in road accidents.

Out of the 16,317 accidents, 4,055 involved motorcycles, 1867 lorries, 143 containers , 2,227 cars, 1,007 duel purpose vehicles, 545 jeeps, 1,215 vans, 178 bicycles , 142 tractors and 2,835 three-wheelers.

National Transport Commission (NTC) chairman Roshan Gunawardene said road accidents caused a heavy burden on the national economy and unless effective measures are taken, the problem is bound to escalate. He said since a sizable percentage of death and injury victims are pedestrians, push cyclists and motorcyclists, urgent steps should be taken to arrest this situation.

"The NTC has initiated a series of workshops to be conducted district wise to educate private bus owners, drivers and conductors to minimise road accidents involving private buses, with the assistance of the Traffic Police and the Road Development Authority. The first workshop was successfully conducted in Colombo with the participation of nearly 400 private bus owners, drivers and conductors," Gunawardena said.

He said the number of road tragedies should be minimised , adding that the finger should not be only pointed at alleged police indifference.

"The public too should co-operate more by adhering to traffic rules. Inquiries into accidents have revealed that most of the accidents occur due to the negligence of drivers," he said.