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| Sunday, 27 April 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Root causes: reckless driving, over speeding by ANTON NONIS The spate of motor accidents during the festive season led to an unprecedented number of fatalities, with the traffic authorities expressing concern about reckless driving and over speeding, the two main causes attributed to them. According to police records, the number of accidents during the period April 4 to 18 was 86 fatalities of a total of 1,975 accidents reported islandwide. Investigations had revealed excessive speed to be the cause of 44 fatalities. An average of over 2,000 persons die on the roads every year from motor accidents in the country. This according to DIG Traffic, Daya Jayasundera, has been the most alarming trend for the past five years. According to Traffic Police, the maximum speed for light and heavy vehicles within the city limits is 55 and 50 kmph respectively. However, it has been noted that a large number of drivers and riders do not adhere to these limitations and continue to drive their vehicles at a faster pace. While Colombo recorded a total of 322 accidents between April 4-April 18 this year, Negombo, Gampaha and Kandy together recorded 307 accidents. Another 390 were recorded from Nugegoda, Panadura and Kalutara, with the rest of the country recording 956 accidents. These figures compared with those for the same period in 2002 and 2001, show that the number of accidents and, for that matter, the fatalities to be on the increase. During the two-year period, a total of 1,600 and 1,500 accidents with 83 and 75 fatalities respectively, were recorded. Lack of respect for traffic rules has also been identified as a major contributory factor for accidents, with the pedestrians too accounting for a good number of victims. Traffic officials point out that many motorists do not pay attention to pedestrian crossings and often approach them at the same speed, with the result not being able to slow down or stop when pedestrians are crossing over. A traffic police constable said that some motorists, instead of slowing down the vehicle, have got used to the dangerous and inconsiderate practice of pushing through even if someone was crossing the road along the yellow line. Deaths at pedestrian crossings have been on the increase, specially in the recent past. Asked how the police would rectify such a situation, DIG Jayasundara said that it was the responsibility of the motorist to be cautious and slow down at a pedestrian crossing. "All motorists are required to slow down from a distance and bring the vehicle to a halt at least five feet away, if someone was crossing the road. Traffic police are on duty at peak hours, but it's not possible to deploy them throughout the day at each and every crossing in the city." Dismissing the public tendency to blame the police whenever there was an accident, it was revealed that the police had made 47,241 detections of traffic violations during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year period. Of these 7,753 had been made in the Colombo Division. "The offenders have been brought to book and fines imposed," the DIG said. But, it has been noted that some motorists, irrespective of how much they are fined, continue to violate road rules. Another reason for the rise in accidents is the increasing number of vehicles that are on the roads including trishaws. Over 350,000 vehicles of all types ply the city roads daily. Yet, the road structure continues to remain the same despite various shortcomings. Analysing the accident phenomenon, the traffic police had discovered that most of the road accidents occurred not in congested areas, but on broad roads with less traffic, where the drivers step up their accelerators. Unless the drivers learn to discipline themselves and adhered to road rules, motor accidents and the resulting fatalities were bound to continue, to haunt every festive season, for years to come, the DIG said. |
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