Motorist involved in fatal accidents or drunken driving will be given half of the 24 points at which stage their driving licences will be cancelled, Motor Traffic Commissioner General S.H. Harishchandra said yesterday. He said this would be the first step in the point system for drivers and would come into effect from January one [...]

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Fatal accidents, drink driving: Speedy way to lose your licence

By Damith Wickremasekara
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Motorist involved in fatal accidents or drunken driving will be given half of the 24 points at which stage their driving licences will be cancelled, Motor Traffic Commissioner General S.H. Harishchandra said yesterday.
He said this would be the first step in the point system for drivers and would come into effect from January one as a deterrent to curb road accidents.

Initially those found guilty of driving under the influence of liquor and those responsible for fatal accidents would be given 12 points for each offence. Drivers getting 24 points within a year would have their licences cancelled and would need prove their competence and safe driving practices to get their licences back.
“We are planning to introduce the system of adding points for other traffic offences as well after three months. But it will be limited to the Western Province where there are a large number of vehicles,” he said.
The Commissioner Generaal said they hoped to fully implement the system in all provinces within six months.

Mr. Harischandra said the Gazette notifications on this new system was ready and would be issued soon.
Police Traffic Chief K. Arasaratnam said the arrangements to implement this scheme had been put in place.
“Initially it will be a manual process where the police will inform courts and the points will be added on a court order. This will be communicated to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles where the information will be entered into a data base,” he said.

He said drivers who lose their licences in this point system would be required to attend training classes to regain the points. SSP Arasaratnam said the police hoped that the number of accidents would be reduced by the implementation of the point system.

Every year, more than 2,500 persons are killed in motor traffic accidents.




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