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Tuesday, 22 November 2016 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Chamodi Gunawardana
Fines for seven traffic offences have been increased to Rs. 25,000, following discussions between Finance Ministry, Transport Ministry and relevant authorities.
Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the decision was taken to prevent road accidents in Sri Lanka.
“There are 50,000 incidents reported due to drunk driving and another 49,000 accidents occur due to driving without valid license per year. We wanted to avoid such incidents in future,” he said.
Accordingly, traffic offences of drunk driving, driving without vehicle insurance, driving without valid license, overtaking from the left side, speeding, driving illegally at a railway crossing and allowing someone to driving without a valid license are the seven major offences which will warrant a fine of Rs. 25,000 here after.
Minister Silva also said that this decision wasn’t taken in order to increase Government earnings.
“The public understand sthat this decision was taken for their wellbeing and not to earn money from traffic fines,” he stressed.
He also said that the discussions have been held to setup CCTV cameras in heavy traffic areas all over the country and that highways will be monitored by special cameras to monitor traffic laws violations.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who took part in the discussion, said that the budget proposal to impose a minimum fine of Rs. 2,500 for traffic offences has been amended after several discussion held with State bodies and civil societies.
Speaking to Daily FT, Lanka Private Bus Owners Association Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said that they agreed to the Finance Ministry’s decision to increase the minimum fine to Rs.25,000 after several rounds of discussions.
Accordingly, the proposal will be tabled by Silva when the Transport Appropriation Bill is taken up to debate on 28 November.
According to AFP official figures show 2,817 people were killed in road accidents last year in Sri Lanka, which has a population of over 20 million.
Almost 100,000 people are critically wounded in road accidents each year, causing a heavy burden on the state-run hospitals.
Private surveys have shown that about half the 1.1 million three-wheel taxis are operated by drivers who do not have a licence.
The following traffic offenses were identified for the minimum fine of Rs. 25,000
