Halting traffic deaths

Wednesday, 15 June 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s roads were deadlier than ever last year, with the highest number of traffic deaths on record and the Government has announced its intention to launch a five-year plan to curb accidents but the questions remains whether the measures will be sustainable and if they will even include political convoys.

More than 2,700 people were killed in road accidents last year – an increase of more than 300 from 2014. This means an average of 7.5 people died each day on Sri Lanka’s roads on average in 2015 – a jump from 6.6 people. Nearly 60% of serious accidents are caused by single-vehicles crashing into a pedestrian or fixed object.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), South Asia has the highest number of road traffic accidents, with Sri Lanka quite high on the list. From 1977 to 2007, more than a million road accidents occurred, with over 40,000 deaths, at a cost of over Rs. 100 billion, according to a 2008 interim report by a Parliamentary Select Committee to “look into the alarming increase in traffic accidents”.

Road traffic accident victims amount to about 25% to 27% of all accident patients admitted to the National Hospital. The numbers speak for themselves. The Government spends between Rs. 1 million to Rs. 10 million to treat a road accident victim and the annual budget exceeds Rs. 3.5 billion.

Obeying road rules and promoting better discipline and courtesy can only be a plus point given the ever-increasing number of vehicles. Steps taken by the Government include the introduction of a points system for licenses so that accumulated offences are punished with the revoking of the privilege to drive.

Steps by the Government to introduce third party compensation should also be fast-tracked under this mechanism so that more people will be safeguarded under the law. This is especially important given that most of the casualties are pedestrians, some even knocked down on crossing lines, which makes the injustice even greater.

Under the fresh plan mooted by the Transport Ministry offenders can also be charged retrospectively on the evidence of CCTV camera footage regularly observed by police. This, if used fairly and transparently, can result in a significant increase in road discipline as the police cannot be deployed everywhere all the time. An estimated 115 CCTV cameras operate in the greater Colombo area and if this grid is expanded then it would be an even more effective method of improving road discipline.

It can only be hoped that the VIP and VVIP convoys are also brought under the same law so that instances of people being knocked down or even killed will become a thing of the past. The inconsiderate and inconveniencing convoys need to be urgently controlled for public safety and this law could at least partially find a way to achieve this.

At a time when public wellbeing is being challenged, this step to give everyone a fair deal will certainly be applauded by empathetic people. Putting together laws that can arrest this menace, finding resources to implement them, and creating more awareness are the only sustainable solutions that will protect lives.