Putting brakes on road mishaps

Tuesday, 9 October 2012 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Since the standard of life is measured by numbers, as the year nears its end, there is even more impetus to get at least some statistics reduced. However, when it comes to the number of road accidents, things are speeding in the wrong direction.

Last Friday, two people died when two private buses collided in Jaffna. Last Wednesday, a woman died from a motorbike-tipper collision, and in Katubedda, 11 persons including seven schoolchildren were critically injured when a bus collided with a school van.

Last Monday, four people, including two policemen, were killed when their vehicle overturned on a highway under construction; tele-drama director Nalaka Wedamulla died in a head-on collision between two cars; two schoolchildren were injured when a bus went off the road into a canal; and an Army lance corporal died when his motorcycle collided with a private bus.

Police statistics reveal about 25,000 road traffic accidents to mid-September this year, with six to seven deaths a day. Deputy Inspector of Police (DIG) Traffic, K. Arasaratnam had told reporters about 110 accidents are reported daily, of which one fatal accident takes place every four hours.

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 point 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.

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.