The reckless sex

As the nation debates the ethics and legality of underage driving in the wake of last week's horrific accident, a survey reveals young male drivers to be more careless, irresponsible and prone to accidents than their female counterparts.:

by Carol Aloysius

The scene of an accident

Young men on the roads take more risks and tend to be careless in comparison to young women. A survey carried out by Accident Services Unit in November 2015 revealed. The survey was based on the age of the persons involved in road accident injuries treated at the Accident Services, revealed that the majority were between 20-24 years (13%) the second highest group between 25- 29 years,( 11.6%), and the third highest from 30-34 years ( 9%). The Accident Services treated only 4% of children since the majority were sent to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital ( LRH).

"Driving recklessly and irresponsibly has a ripple effect. It affects the immediate victim and society as a whole. Offenders and victims are mainly young males," says National Hospital Sri Lanka's Accident Services Coordinator Ms Pushpa Ramyani Zoysa said.

Risks

Ms Pushpa Ramyani Zoysa

She said more males than females were vulnerable to injuries on roads, the ratio being 63 for males and 37 for females.

When asked for the reason, she said, "Young people, especially male drivers (and pedestrians) take a lot of risks on the roads. They are more aggressive and competitive when driving and don't think of the consequences at most times. Many accidents and injuries on the roads are preventable as they are due to human factors and errors"

"If you are a young man driving your first car on the road, be careful. Don't drive too fast to outpace the cars ahead of you, or drive after a drinking bout.

The consequences could be dire to say the least. If you crash your vehicle because of your irresponsible road behaviour you could die. Or be maimed for life. Worse still, you could critically injure an innocent road user harming the victim and his/her family as well."

Regarding the recent tragedy where an under-aged driver had knocked down and killed a mother and her nine-year-old daughter on a busy public road, she said "It's a complicated issue. The mother who accompanied the 15-year-old son who drove the vehicle is responsible, being an adult she should take the responsibility as the driver at 15 years is only a child. In any case, driving a vehicle at his age is illegal as he is below the legal age limit of driving, which is 18 years and above,."

Director Accident Services, Dr Samidi Samarakoon said being a mother of a teenager of the same age, she would never allow her son to even go for driving lessons fearing he would drive the family car in the absence of his parents. "It is not so much ignorance of the road rules, but lack of common sense and responsibility on the part of the parent who was accompanying the child when he was driving. See what has happened as a result. Two lives have been needlessly lost. The single living member of the family is orphaned and her future is uncertain. The young driver will also spend his life under a cloud. All young drivers especially if they are underage and experimenting their driving skills on public roads, should take a lesson from this incident".

No specific laws

Asked if there were any specific laws to prevent underage drivers from taking the wheel, she said, "No one is allowed to drive a vehicle on public roads unless he or she has a valid driving licence. The Motor Vehicles Department only issues licences to those over the age of 18 and we use the same standard. However, there are no specific guidelines with regard to underage driving," she said.

No separate laws

Police Traffic Department sources also admitted that there were no separate laws or rules with regard to underaged driving, except for the fact that no one under 18 years should be allowed to drive on public roads. When asked if there was a penalty for underaged drivers, the sources said the Police could only take action against the owner of the vehicle, in this case the child's parent. They stressed that the fact that the child was driving on a public road with his mother was a type of child abuse, as the child was given an adult's responsibility which he could not handle. " Discipline whether on the roads, or even in the use of drugs, begins at home. If parents encourage children to engage in anti social or irresponsible behaviour which endangers their lives and that of others, parents must take the rap. Although we conduct many awareness g programs for the public, they will be of no use if the child is not disciplined at home. Parents are role models. If they behave irresponsibly , children will do likewise," the sources said. Sources at the National Child Protection Authority when asked about the fate of the child whose mother and sister had been literally driven to an early grave and is now an orphan, since her father had also died earlier, said that by law, the child should be handed over to the next of kin. " Putting her into a home for adoption will be our last option".

WHO Professional Officer Dr Lanka Jayasuriya who handled the Road Safety Decade, Sri Lanka, launched by the WHO a few years ago. He said by law no one under eighteen should drive. There were no specific rules regarding underage drivers. Preventing this emerging menace, the WHO has recommended that all young drivers who get a driving licence for the first time should refrain from consuming liquor while driving. "The permitted amount of alcohol in the blood according to the WHO is 0.02. But we have recommended that it should be zero in the case of novice drivers", she said.

With a multi-sectoral Road Safety Council currently overseeing ways of ensuring road safety, she said that the most important deterrent to road accidents is legislation. " Strengthening existing laws and drawing up new laws to prevent road accidents are vital", she stressed. "Rather than advocacy, what works is legislation. It is a proven fact," she noted. She said the WHO had identified five 'pillars' of action for the decade of road safety in Sri Lanka. The first is to build road safety and management capacity by a monitoring and evaluation process. The second is to improve safety aspects of road design and ensure maximum standards for existing roads, protection at railway crossings, minimizing human activities on the road and developing public transportation. Improving road behaviour was another important point involving banning of drunk driving, using mobile phones and ear phones while driving, use of child restraints, helmets and seat belts.

Global report on Road Safety

The WHO in its latest report published in November 2015, echoes the same sentiments on the importance of legislation and road traffic accidents. According to the Report, countries that have been successful in reducing the number of road traffic deaths have achieved this by improving legislation, enforcement and making roads and vehicles safer", it points out.

The report reveals that globally: 105 countries have good speed laws , 34 have a good drink driving law , 44 have helmet laws that apply to all drivers, passengers , roads and engine types, 52 have a child restraint law for occupants of vehicles based on age , height and weight. It also adds that motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable making up 23% of all road traffic deaths. Despite these advances, there was a wide gap between high income countries and low and middle income countries, where road fatalities have taken an unacceptable toll.

The Accident Service has reported that 20% of persons admitted for treatment out of 35,549 casualties, were from road accidents. The death toll, however is much less - probably under 500 due to better management and being in hospital care, sources said.