New highway code for Expressways

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Motorways, highways or flyovers and serpentine exit routes are advanced features in the modern road networks of developed countries that we are finally privileged to experience in our own country. Fine tarmac carpeted roads with multiple lanes give not only the sheer driving pleasure with ample space but also the ability to reach the expected destination with a pre-targeted time without fail.

Commissioner General of Department of Motor Traffic, S H Harishchandra

Former Assistant Commissioner (Technical), A.W. Dissanayake

Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana

With all these advance features comes a modern set of laws and road signs to be followed by the users for their own sake. Since the high speed factor is involved with these roads the probability for dangerous accidents is also expected to be high.

Unheeding road signs on highways as it is, is not a joke concerning the amount of respect most of the ignorant local drivers have towards the usage of the regular main roads. A simple miss or negligence could cause a severe accident or a multiple vehicle collision on a highway, again due to the speed factor and inability to control. Having not familiarised with the road signs, especially the ones recently introduced for highways is another problem that caused many accidents recently.

In 2011 Sri Lanka was introduced to highways or expressways which made life more convenient for constant travellers, road users and logistic based transportation systems. With the launch of the Expressway One (E1) connecting Colombo and Galle and now up to Matara, reduced an approximate four to five hour journey to a one hour trip due to the shortest stretch of the distance with an ability to accelerate into high speed levels.

On the expressway the drivers had the chance to accelerate up to 100 kilometres an hour although the maximum speed limit allowed on a regular road outside a town area is 72 kilometres per hour. Also the non intervention of police officers armed with speed guns who jump out of the woods made the expressway users more relaxed and to achieve higher speed levels ignoring the 100 kilometre limit. Although high speed driving at a steady level is a common feature of an expressway it should not be taken lightly by any driver. Owning a sophisticated car that can reach a high speed at any given time and a valid driver's license alone are not a qualification to traverse on an expressway at his whim or fancy.

Maintaining the proper speed only would not help if the other traffic laws and road signs pertaining to the route are unheeded. This came into consideration when a number of accidents were reported on E1 road during the past couple of years mostly due to speeding.

Police reports and close circuit television camera footage of these accidents conveyed only one message, that the drivers' incompetency to maintain a steady drive at a high speed, and their lack of knowledge in adhering to road signs had caused these accidents.

This was revealed when police investigated such accidents where they were able to record statements from the surviving drivers, who had claimed that although there were new road signs and instructions on how to use the expressway, they were not very familiar with them.

This was not a surprising answer as the drivers who obtain their drivers license from the government Department of Motor Traffic were not taught how to use a highway or an expressway before.

Since the new laws and the road signs were not included in the syllabus as well as in the learner's exam, neither the fresh license holders nor the experienced drivers had a clue about this.

An ideal example for this was the recent accident on the newly launched Colombo - Katunayake Expressway or the E3. A speeding vehicle failing to control its speed at an entry point crashed into another vehicle that crashed into another causing a multiple vehicle collision. At least four vehicles were involved in the crash, giving the notion that the local drivers are still not accustomed to the excessive speed and control of an expressway.

According to police statistics a total of 816 accidents have been reported from both the Southern Expressway and Colombo - Katunayake Expressway since November 27, 2011 to date. Out of this, three accidents had been reported on the Colombo - Katunayake Expressway, the first of which was reported on November 3 this year.

Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that 10 fatal accidents are also included in the total figure which were mostly due to collisions as a result of excessive speed. According to SSP Rohana 16,972 motor traffic violation cases on expressways had been filed in courts to date. The common charges for these court cases were driving at excessive speed, ignoring police signals and road signs as well as drivers' negligence.

However, the fact that cannot be neglected was that, if there was a set of laws and road signs exceptional to these expressways introduced and familiarised with the drivers prior to the launch of these roads in the country, it would have reduced the number of such occurrences.

When contacted, Commissioner General of Department of Motor Traffic S H Harishchandra said that a new set of laws pertaining to the expressways are being drafted presently and will be introduced to the public in the near future. A new gazette will be issued with the additions of these new regulations which is at the Department of Legal Draftsman currently. The present gazette of Highway Code in Sri Lanka has been created according to the Vienna Convention and the new gazette is included with all the amendments to the old traffic laws and signs as well as the new signs for the expressways.

The department has also taken measures to conduct special awareness programs targeting driving examiners, driving instructors as well the drivers themselves about the new laws. Booklets explaining how to use expressways safely and effectively are being distributed among the public in various scales.

An expert in the motor traffic regulations and a former Assistant Commissioner Technical A W Dissanayake said the common reasons for many vehicular accidents on the new expressways are the driver's inability to judge the speed which he or she is ought to maintain, having their own margins on the speed irrespective of the speed limits displayed on the route and when changing lanes.

Care should be of utmost importance when changing lanes on an expressway. In Sri Lanka the current two expressways have only two lanes each way and only the left lane is advised to be used. The right lane is meant only for overtaking. The motorists are not allowed to use the right lane all along. But many motorists do not know about this and tend to traverse along the right lane continuously causing a traffic problem and hindrance to other road users.

According to Dissanayake, 12 new road signs has been introduced for the expressway users. These road signs consist of warning signs as well as informative signs helpful for the motorists.

They point out service areas, garages and fuel stations, restaurants and hotels, public toilets, industrial areas, tourist information centres as well as S.O.S telephone booths. S.O.S. Telephone booths are set up to make emergency calls when the vehicle is met with a fault or a trouble.

The warning signs depict overhead bridges and underpasses for the public to cross the expressways, start and end of an expressway, hard shoulders as well as entry and exit points (interchanges). All these laws and signs will be helpful to have a safe journey for motorists on an expressway which is still a novel experience for Sri Lanka. But what should be taken into account is that all drivers should be familiarised with these new laws and road signs as soon as possible to have an accident free future.