Sustain motorcycle rules say health officials

With the Police imposing three new regulations for motorcyclists from Wednesday June 10, health officials expressed concerns over how effective they would be, given the fate of some recently introduced regulations for road users in Sri Lanka.

“Any regulation which will act as a deterrent to the number of accidents on our roads, especially those involving motor cyclists who are most at risk, is welcome. But they must be sustained continuously once implemented.” Deputy Director, National Hospital, Sri Lanka ( NHSL) Dr Cyril de Silva told the Sunday Observer. “It’s useless having regulations limited to paper if they are not enforced or forgotten or even withdrawn suddenly”, he added.

Referring to some of the recently introduced regulations which no longer seemed to be enforced, he asked, “Whatever happened to the full face helmet ban which was supposed to be implemented in order to reduce road accidents? Why was it not withdrawn suddenly? What happened to the ban on tinted front screens? Why is it that the Police are no longer checking drivers to ensure they are wearing seat belts? Or even arresting drivers who have been caught speeding red handed?”

He said that there were several motorists especially three wheeler drivers and motorcyclists who were driving around with faulty brakes. In addition, families still traveled with infants on one motorcycle with only the driver wearing a helmet. “Their lives are at stake. We are carrying out awareness programmes for them, so that they realize the serious impact of spinal injuries and brain injuries they face”, he said.

Police sources at the Media unit when contacted by the Sunday Observer, said the three new regulations applying to motorcyclists in future were as follows;

* Both rider and pillion riders should wear helmets with the strap tightened under their chin instead of wearing them loose to prevent them from falling off in the event of an accident.

*The visor should not be tinted but made of transparent clear material.

* No overtaking of another vehicle from behind especially heavy vehicles such as tippers where the driver and the motorcyclist could not see their path clearly.

“We are introducing these additional regulations to protect them, as an entire family can get wiped out in a single accident. The Police Department is carrying out awareness programmes urging them to act more responsibly. Errant motorists will face serious consequences”, they added. Harindra, 32 a father of two who takes his two kids to school after dropping off his wife at work, said, “ Any new rules that safeguard my family from harm on the roads is welcome. However careful I am, I can’t say the same thing about other motorists”. According to Police statistics, the registered number of motorcycles islandwide now stands at 2.9 million i.e. 53% of the total number of vehicles in the country.