Speed thrills but kills

Wadduwa bus collision:

by Nilma DOLE

At the ICU of the Panadura Base Hospital, Ranjani Wickramasinghe writhes in pain due to multiple injuries to her head and body. She was a victim of the Wadduwa bus accident in which three buses collided, resulting in the loss of her 15-year old daughter Nevindra and sister Chikamani Athulgama. They were on their way to see their mother who was admitted to the Philips hospital in Kalutara for a leg problem but never made it to their destination because of a careless move by a bus driver. Nevindra was a bright student of Ananda College Colombo who had won the Year 5 scholarship to study there but sadly, she is no more. Another passenger K. Kapilasena, a resident of Hendala also died in the collision where around 50 passengers were onboard the three buses that crashed at a U-bend in Podderamulla, Wadduwa.

Says SI of the Wadduwa Traffic Police Calistus Perera "The accident took place around 10:45 a.m. just before the bus halt of the Podderamulla Kanishta Vidyalaya". According to eyewitness accounts, an Ashok Leyland bus travelling from Colombo to Matara was overtaken by a Kalutara bound Colombo intercity bus which collided with a Colombo bound Galle bus travelling in the opposite direction. The SI said that the driver of the Kalutara bus miscalculated a move to overtake the Matara bus because it was travelling at a high speed causing it to crash with the Galle bus. "The Kalutara bus driver Chatura suffered massive injuries and died on Tuesday night at the ICU of the Panadura Base Hospital" said SI Perera. The driver of the Matara bus was W.M. Damith Ruwankumara, who is in police custody for questioning about the accident.

Dhammika Deepal, the driver of the Galle bus, was admitted to Ward 1 of the Panadura Base Hospital when the Sunday Observer photographed him. However, since he was not in a position to speak, his friend attending to him said that he suffered injuries to his legs, arms, head and his lips were swollen. SI Calistus Perera said that Dhammika Deepal will be taken for questioning as soon as he is in a condition to make a statement.

Another passenger of the Galle bus, the Venerable Gatamanna Tissa Thera was a student going to campus to complete his thesis for his degree. Says Sagari Keriwardeniya, the Director of the Panadura Base Hospital "At first, we thought he was a foreigner because he had a fair complexion but then we realised he was a Sri Lankan".

She said that the monk suffered facial tissue damage, nerve damage and was injured in the left eye. "After we took a CT scan, we found that there was no threat to his life except for a few injuries that will heal over time" said the doctor.

Further, she said that the other patients who were involved in the accident have been given the necessary treatment and they are expected to recover soon.

Ranjith, father of victim Dasun Siriwardena, (23) who was also in the ill-fated Kalutara intercity bus, said that his son's injuries were on his left leg, arms and bruises across his head. "Dasun is working at a reputed company as a draughtsman and he is my only son". Dasun got into the Kalutara intercity bus around 9:30 a.m. from Colombo and was seated on the left hand side of the driver's seat at the time of the accident.

Dr. Karunaratne, a dental surgeon working at the Panadura Base Hospital said that many passengers involved in the accident had facial and dental injuries. "With proper surgery, we can rectify the injuries as we have a team of 10 doctors on call at all times at the hospital" she said.

Subash Chandrasiri (39) was the conductor of the Kalutara intercity bus. He is the sole breadwinner of his family because his wife Nadeeka and children Sachini and Amita are dependent on his meagre earnings.

However, today he is suffering from a fractured leg and hand along with bruises on the side of his head and is unable to earn for his family after the accident.

"I was about to let a passenger off at the school bus halt when suddenly I heard a loud crash and I was thrown onto the road" he said. He is upset that his colleague, the driver of the bus made the mistake of trying to overtake the other bus and as a result, lives were lost.

In a sad twist of fate, the passenger who was about to get down from the Kalutara bus, suffered fractures to her leg and had a scar right down the side of her face. She was a project coordinator for an NGO in the Wadduwa area.

Police spokesperson SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said, "I make an appeal to the RDA (Road Development Authority) to build the roads according to proper standards because we have very narrow roads where everything and everyone from pedestrians to carts and animals travel on the same lane".

Without proper road safety standards, bus drivers are not bothered about road rules hence accidents take place frequently. "I also request the public to be careful when travelling because drivers are a different breed and we have no control over them and their driving skills" he said. The main reasons for accidents are lack of road standards, racing and drunk driving said the SSP.

Intercity buses tend to overtake other buses since they have limited stops (depending on the number of passengers) and try to get to their destination ahead of scheduled time (earlier the better).

However, when overtaking at a U-bend, drivers should be cautious and careful because the lives of many are at risk.

The Sunday Observer spoke to a few intercity bus drivers at the Pettah bus stand about this problem and whether they are ever cautious about speeding. Intercity bus driver Jayantha who runs the Panadura to Colombo route said "Passengers ask us to hurry up because they want to get to their destinations on time.Intercity buses are usually taken because people want to get to a particular place on time even though it might mean at break-neck speed".

Jayantha has been a bus driver for nearly 15 years because there is no other career option for him. Intercity bus owner and driver Mohammed said "Often it is the English speaking passengers decked in finery who often prefer us to speed up to get to their offices on time". Some bus drivers who preferred to be anonymous said that the police also charge heavy fines instead of correcting the wrong-doing of the drivers.

"The bus drivers who are found guilty of accidents only have to serve about 3 years in prison with a heavy fine but after they are released, they continue driving recklessly" concluded SSP Ranjith Gunasekera. Commuters have no choice but to be careful when using public and private transport.

However, we all have to realise that getting to our destinations on time is pointless if our lives are at stake.