No mercy

Police to take tough action against motorcyclists and trishaw drivers ignoring traffic rules:

by Maneshka Borham

In light of the recent horrific tragedy between a trishaw and a lorry in Welmilla, Bandaragama on February 29, which eventually resulted in the death of three children under the age of 13 and a 19 year old youth, the Police have now decided to step up and take strict action against unruly drivers of trishaws and motorbikes to curb the rising number of fatal accidents caused by them.

While accidents are a common occurrence and have been on a gradual upward rise, the ages of the victims involved in this incident have left the public reeling in shock.

As a result, relevant authorities were brought together early this week at a three-day conference in Colombo to discuss issues of road safety and accidents while also to strengthen laws and its enforcement.

According to the Traffic Division of the Sri Lanka Police in 2015 an appalling 1,021 individuals met their end due to motor bike accidents while there have been 327 reported trishaw accidents with 374 deaths caused as a result. Out of these accidents the Police say 227 fatalities have been passengers of trishaws with 23 victims being under the tender age of five.

Known as the modes of transport of the poor, sending out directions to all relevant officers DIG Traffic Amarasiri Senaratne urged his officers to take strict action against offenses committed by motorbike and trishaw drivers.

According to DIG Senaratne one of the main reasons for motorbike and trishaw drivers to brazenly disregard traffic regulations is the sympathetic stance the Police takes towards them.

However, now the DIG has ordered Police officers to impose fines and take relevant action against wrong doers leaving aside any sympathy they may feel towards the drivers. “We will not accept any excuses from them going forward” he said adding that a main reason for such an accident is because drivers do not adhere to speed limits imposed.

“Two-wheel and three-wheel vehicles any way have balance issues” he said adding that when such vehicles take turns or overtake other vehicles going over its speed capabilities serious accidents are inevitable. According to him this is a main reason for such fatal accidents to occur on Sri Lankan roads.

“If you go on to the roads you can see most trishaw and motorbike riders in the cities have no discipline that is needed to drive a vehicle” Senaratne said.

According to him in any situation there are certain laws and rules humans should adhere to. “This is very much lacking in road users today” he stressed adding that actually how many disciplined drivers are on the roads is a question that should be seriously looked at.

Therefore, going forward the Police have been instructed to now take strict action against three wheelers and motorbikes carrying more than the stipulated amount of passengers while they will also be strictly penalized for unruly driving and overtaking, not adhering to lane law regulations, not wearing safety helmets and going over speed limits.

This strict program will be in place as a warning to drivers till May 31, 2016 to discipline them the Police said.

Though Police are to take action to curb accidents currently there is a great public discussion on the safety issues of motorbikes and specifically issues in three wheelers.

According to the statistics of the Department of Motor Traffic last year alone 129,547 new three wheelers and 370,998 motorcycles were registered with the department. Speaking to the Sunday Observer Chairman of the National Council of Road Safety Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said there are 1.95 million three wheelers on the roads of Sri Lanka.

“The main issue we see today as a cause of these accidents is that drivers are tampering with the front wheel safety lock of the trishaw to turn in a sudden manner” he said resulting in the vehicle toppling over instantly.

According to him such a lock is in place to not allow such maneuvers in order to ensure safety of all people involved.

The Chairman refuses to even associate the term safety with trishaws saying there is no safety in such vehicles.

“We are now going to work with the police to inspect trishaws and penalise such drivers who have tampered with these locks”.

He also mentioned that drivers tend to install various items in the trishaw that are not put in by the manufacturer which causes more extensive injuries in accidents while they also tend to paste stickers on various parts obstructing the view of the road.

According to Dr. Kodagoda 40 per cent of trishaw drivers have no licences.

“These have to be stopped and looked at by the Police” he says adding that while the laws in place are sufficient to tackle such issues the Police and all relevant authorities must strictly enforce these laws to bring down the rate of accidents.

To Dr. Kodagoda the trend of youngsters who are purchasing three wheelers due to its affordability and driving them without any knowledge of road rules is an alarming phenomena.

“If this is not curbed now and the law in not enforced I believe this can even turn in to a major societal issue” he said adding that action therefore must be taken immediately.

“In my home town of Avissawella trishaws are a lifeline and the drivers are disciplined” DIG Senaratne said adding they do a major service to the community.

“There hare hardly any accidents such as this”.

According to DIG Amarasiri Senaratne trishaws despite its safety issues can be of a great service to society if drivers adhere to road regulations and act in a disciplined manner.

“This is what is needed today” he said adding that in his opinion trishaws will not pose a hazard if used in a correct manner.