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| Sunday, 22 September 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Road accidents: who gets killed and by whom? by Carol Aloysius Pedestrians count among the large number of victims of Road accidents and the most vulnerable group of pedestrians to road accidents were middle-aged persons, between the ages of 44-54 years, many of them sole bread winners. Pedal push cyclists were the most vulnerable road users facing the highest risk. This was the view expressed by SSP Wickremasinghe at media seminar on "Prevention of Road Accidents' held at the Health Education Bureau, recently. The relentless surge in road accidents has caused authorities to take a fresh look at the causes of such accidents and review the shortcomings in the existing laws that make it possible for errant drivers to get off almost scot-free. Who gets killed on the roads? Who gets seriously injured? Which vehicles cause the most number of deaths/injuries on the roads and why? These were some of the questions raised, the answers to which were given by a panel of experts representing the National Accident Prevention Committee at a media seminar. Answering the question 'Who gets killed on the roads?' SSP Wickremasinghe revealed that the highest number of victims were pedestrians. His statistics revealed that the most vulnerable group of pedestrians to road accidents were middle-aged persons, between the ages of 44-54 years, many of them sole bread winners.Pedal push cyclists were the most vulnerable road users facing the highest risk. Their deaths were due partly to negligent driving on the part of drivers of vehicles, as well their own negligence in observing correct road rules while crossing the roads. Unlike the older pedestrians, children on the other hand were surprisingly well-behaved on the roads, was his surprising disclosure. Who are the main culprits behind road accidents? Here Mr. Wickremasinghe debunked the popular belief that SLTB drivers caused the largest number of accidents on the roads. " SLTB buses are in fact the safest mode of public transport," he noted. "The chief offenders are the private bus drivers. Next to them are lorry drivers and following them, light vehicle drivers and 3 wheel drivers - more than 80 per cent of them being paid drivers." According to him the bulk of accidents (80%) were caused by human error while the balance was due to mechanical faults. Despite increased detections in recent years, the fact that road accidents had increased 4-fold was due to several factors, he observed. One was the very low penalty of approximately Rs. 150-200 imposed on errant drivers. "These penalties must be revised and increased in order to be an effective deterrent," he emphasised. Lack of co-ordination by law enforcement agencies was another reason. Perceived risk of detection was also very low while the perceived opportunity of escaping from the clutches of the law was very high, he noted. Other contributory causes included the huge surge in the number of vehicles on the roads. "Annually there is an increase of 80,000 new vehicles on our roads, while our road network has not kept pace with this enormous increase of traffic," he observed. Expansion of private transport and the strong competition to maximise profits was another causative factor. So how can road accidents be minimised? By improving road conditions, taking off unworthy vehicles from the road, removing incompetent drivers, improving driver testing and driver training standards, educating all road users and improving road safety standards, Mr. Wickramasinghe suggested. His proposals were endorsed by Mr. Anton Nanayakkara who, while agreeing with Mr. Wickramasinghe, announced his plans for minimising road accidents which he had already demonstrated to the OPA and other organisations and said he hoped to implement it in the near future. Other speakers included Dr. Wijaya Godakumbura who drew attention to the alarming rise of bottle lamp victims which claimed between 30-40 victims a day. "In Sri Lanka 43 per cent of homes don't have electricity (i.e. 1.78 million houses). We have a safe replacement for the kerosene oil lamp currently used by these households, and we're selling them below cost at Rs. 15 a bottle. Unfortunately we have no takers. We can provide all these houses if they ask for the lamps. But the message of a safer alternative still hasn't reached the masses," he said. Dr. Mrs. Latha Hapugoda, Director (Health Education and Publicity), Dr. Manil Fernando, Ministry of Health and Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage DGHS also spoke. |
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