Many reasons for surge in accidents

by Manjula Fernando & Maneshka Borham

A blurred CCTV footage showed a man standing by the side of a relatively deserted road, looking to get to the other side. He held onto a bicycle with a toddler seated on the cycle bar. In a split second a speeding car crashed in to them sending the child up in the air like a balloon.

Moments before the accident, when the man was run over by the car, he was seen flinching as he stared helplessly at the car, not knowing what was coming next. That was all.

This was not a scene from a horror movie. It was among the many graphic footage released by the Ministry of Transport and the Police Traffic and Road Safety Division at a press conference last week, organized to highlight the gravity of road accidents 'issue' in Sri Lanka.

According to the Sri Lanka Police, deaths due to traffic related accidents were at an all time high last year, since 2011, with 2,801 deaths reported, of which 2,590 were due to fatal road accidents. Within the first six months of this year 1,228 fatalities have already been reported. The Police pointed out, excessive speeding, careless driving, dangerous overtaking, among the main reasons for the high numbers of traffic related accidents and deaths.

With road accidents showing a steady increase, earlier last week, Secretary to the Transport Ministry, Nihal Somaweera announced that the Ministry has drawn up a five-year action plan to reduce road accidents and increase the efficiency of the public transport service.

Chairman, National Council for Road Safety, the Ministry of Transport, Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said, Sri Lanka's road traffic systems are so archaic that it needs to be revised urgently.

He is of the view that CCTV footage should be used to issue fines to road rule breakers. In fact, such a system is to be put in place under the new plan to be implemented by the Council through the Police Traffic Division.

Using the nearly '115 CCTV camera monitoring system' and three mobile CCTV units, the Police will be able to send charge sheets to the homes of motorists who violate road rules, identified through CCTV footage. This system, along with the imposing of heavier fines, the introduction of a points system, tougher rules on three wheelers, road side drug detections, are however, yet to see the light of day despite repeated discussions in the past.

The National Council for Road Safety consists of government and non-government institutions. Their motto is to create 'A safe and effective road network for all road users', a feature seriously lacking in Sri Lanka.

However, confusion reigned when the Sunday Observer requested for a copy of the new five year plan of action which was announced last week at the press conference.

Despite being one of the main parties to implement such a plan, informed sources at the Police Traffic Division said, they were yet to set eyes on it.

For some unseen reason, the bureaucrats who promised to send a copy to the Sunday Observer, however, absconded, leaving us in a quandary thinking how effective this whole project is going to be.

The officials seem to unpardonably drag their feet over this serious issue, let alone keep the masses informed through the media.

When contacted, Dr. Kodagoda said, while a plan has been drawn up, the relevant authorities have already started implementing certain aspects of it. Repeated attempts to contact the Transport Ministry Secretary, to obtain a further clarification in this regard failed.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer DIG Traffic, Amarasiri Senaratne put it plainly, saying, they have seen several plans over the past years, but none have come to fruition. "Agencies involved talk shop, but nothing comes out of it" he said, adding that only the Police know the practical and harsh realities of keeping the roads safe.

It is in this backdrop, that DIG Senaratne recalled a similar action plan drafted in 2011 with the aim of increasing road safety, while reducing fatalities.

The plan was also expected to improve transport infrastructure in the island during a span of 10 years. This plan, namely, the "National Action Plan on Road Safety" is set to end in year 2020, while fulfilling the many tasks set out in it, such as, introduction of a centralized computer system between all agencies involved in road safety, implementing a research and development centre and the appointment of an advisory committee.

When queried, Dr. Kodagoda claimed this was not put into action as planned in 2011.

He acknowledged the plan was in fact faultless and the 2016 one was an improved version of the 2011 plan. "However, we have made some improvements, such as, the addition of some technical details lacking in the previous plan" he said, adding that it is now a more comprehensive plan.

DIG Senaratne said the Police has been continuously playing its part to keep the roads safe, as well as, reduce road accidents. "Who says the Police has not implemented our part of the responsibilities in the previous plan?" he questioned.

In keeping with the 2011 plan, the Police has worked towards improving several areas within the Traffic Division - introducing software to collect statistics related to road use and accidents and also data on perilous roads and presenting them to the relevant authorities for action.

The improvements also included rigorous training of traffic police officers to offer a better service, and strengthening of the training division of the Traffic Police Headquarters.

Despite all these attempts, the numbers of road tragedies remained high into 2016 and are still at a disturbing level.

The confusion over the new five year plan to arrest 'road rage' is not going to help minimize the deaths or injuries, but rather render the ongoing efforts also useless.