Road accidents hit 6,000 in three months
by Carol Aloysius
The number of road accidents had soared to over 6,000 in the past
three months and eighty percent of the victims were women. "Over 80
percent of our admissions comprised females while the rest were men. In
all these cases, the accidents were due to human factors and could have
been prevented if road rules had been observed properly," National
Coordinator for Training, Accident Service, National Hospital, Colombo
Pushpa Ramyani Zoyza said.
He added that proper helmet use was a must for all motorcyclists, to
prevent serious head injuries and not more than two persons should be
allowed to ride on a motorcycle. Over 2,365 people died and 6,042
persons were seriously injured in road accidents islandwide from January
1 to October 31 this year. Minor injuries in road accidents totalled
11,688. The number of road accidents this year including damage to
11,200 buildings due to reckless driving, was 31,120, sources at the
Traffic Division of Police Headquarters told the Sunday Observer.
There were 1,820 fatal accidents and 4,985 grievous injuries from
accidents and 9,350 minor injuries from January 1 to August 31. Compared
to these figures, the number of road accidents in the past three months
up to October 31 soared by nearly 6,000, sources said. They said the
main reason was the rapid surge in the number of vehicles on the roads.
New registrations per year are now over six lakhs, sources said.
Zoyza said nearly 13,000 people from 16 years and older had been
admitted to the Accident Service for treatment. |