Road Safety: Never in Sri Lanka?

It was a hard decision for me to write this piece because of the umpteen number of letters / articles penned on this subject for decades ( 1981 to date ), all of which have fallen on deaf ears

After my training under a WHO Fellowship in 1988 on the subject of road safety, two Seminars and Exhibitions using a physical model 16’X 8’ were held at the OPA in years 2000 and 2003 under the caption: “Introduction to the Basics of Lane Discipline”; which like all good things were completely sabotaged by the very same people who should have benefitted from it. (see Island of 22.23,24 September 2005 for more details)

Lane Discipline is not just a word. It is a whole subject that can be easily understood even by a student who has done mathematics up to the “O” levels. So our attention first goes to our Driving Schools, and the multiplicity of organizations with well paid staff for doing nothing. Their only qualification is perhaps that they are somebody’s somebody.

The recent tragedy at Passara killing 15 innocent people for which the ill trained truck driver is to blame is a good example. Judging from the video clips shown:

(1) the road narrowing was seen on the side of the truck driver who should have stopped and given way to the oncoming bus

(2) the truck driver had failed to give right of way to the bus which was climbing while the truck was descending

(3) The bus driver would have been helpless, because, if the fully loaded bus was forced to stop when climbing, he would have had difficulty in restarting,

While our well paid gentlemen engaged on road safety will read and forget, till the next tragedy occurs, but to me it is a reminder of some of the most gruesome fatal accidents I have recorded or seen with my own eyes. (1) a pregnant young girl pillion rider on her way to her mother’s place for her first confinement was knocked down by a tipper driver carrying sand on Parliament Road, flattening her body fully above the chest and the unborn baby was found rejected minus the head. Later in the evening I saw a dog taking away a piece of the skull of the victim (2) A pariah double decker driver on Kelani Bridge rammed into a hand cart pushed along on the wrong side carrying a load of bamboos. One bamboo went right through the stomach of the poor boy.What a sight it was to see a blood drenched boy seen moving about the road on all fours like an animal. Sure these two drivers are still driving on our roads. ( 3 ) A young lady doctor on duty lost her life travelling in an ambulance of the Ministry of Health that met with an accident, at a time when we are made to believe that an ambulance is the safest vehicle on our roads. In this connection I hesitate to mention another jealous lady doctor, who was secretary to the National Council for Prevention of Accidents (NCPA), who got rid of all the engineers from the NCPA and renaming it as NCPI as if only meant for doctors, should now examine her conscience.

The saddest day for me was the day I participated at the so-called launch of the proposal to create the NCRS, describing it as a white elephant to employ relations and friends of politicians. The sponsors succeeded to mislead the Prime Minister to approve the creation of this white elephant. Their performance during the so-called their own decade of action (2011 to 2020 ) is proof of their inability to solve this problem. Now on to the second decade of inactivity (2021 to 2030 ) what we can expect was shown during the month of January 2021 itself, with a sharp increase in road accidents.

The subject of road safety should rightly come under a separate branch of the RDA called “Traffic Engineering Branch” as in Singapore, consisting of civil engineers well trained on road safety matters and responsible for correct road markings, road signs,. operation and maintenance to traffic lights as in Singapore. (see Island of 03-01-2020 Response to the Editor’s New Year wish for more) The Police will engage in law enforcement only.

Being less pessimistic, there is still a ray of hope at the end of the long dark tunnel, only if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa takes this subject under him personally, and appoints competent professionals with the aptitude to road safety matters and possess sufficient foreign driving experience to work together to find a solution. They should not be given anything more than three months to report on their findings by not making it a profitable job. It is best that this subject is taken off the hands of time consuming and funds wasting bodies such as NCPI, Ceyspa, AA , ,NCRS. etc and use such funds for better purposes.

Eng ANTON NANAYAKKARA

Chartered Civil Engineer