News
Sudden death in trishaws sound a warning
View(s):Recent tragic three-wheeler accidents that have claimed lives on the spot should come as an eye-opener for authorities on the growing need for monitoring and regulation of three-wheelers, an expert warned.
The most recent three wheeler accident along the Narammala-Giriulla Road that claimed four lives
The warning from former deputy inspector-general of police Camillus Abeygunewardena followed the deaths of four young men last week when the three-wheeler in which they were travelling collided with a Sri Lanka Transport Board bus along the Narammala-Giriulla road in front of the Matiyagane Catholic Church.
The three passengers and the driver, all in their early 20s, died immediately.
Police said the three-wheeler had arrived from Katunayake after picking up one of the passengers from the airport and had been heading towards Ukuwela – about halfway on a 125km journey when the accident occurred. They suspect the driver had fallen asleep while driving the vehicle.Earlier this year another three-wheeler lost control and fell off a precipice in Thalathu Oya, killing a nine-year-old boy. Two other children who had been passengers had to be treated in hospital for injuries.
In other recent accidents a trishaw driver died in Thanamalwila when his vehicle collided with a lorry, a collision between a three-wheeler and a motorbike resulted in another fatality, and an accident between a lorry and three-wheeler resulted in five people in the trishaw (two women, two youths and a three-year-old child) suffering critical injuries.
Drivers often ignore the rule prohibiting the loading of more than three adults or two adults and two children.Recently, new Motor Traffic (Motor Tricycle) regulations were introduced covering issues such as drivers’ conduct to passenger service, vehicle condition etc. but there appears to be little monitoring of the law.
“With a passenger transport service there is a need not only to have regulations but also a state regulatory body to see whether the regulations are implemented,” Mr. Abeygunewardena said.
An accident in Mawanella last year
Mr. Abeygoonewardena said laws should govern every aspect of a three-wheeler from its colour to driver’s ethics and training of drivers.
“Inconsiderate or reckless driving can be curbed by training of three-wheeler drivers on ethics and conduct. Even countries like India, have a certain dress code and code of ethics for three-wheeler drivers. This is especially seen in tourist areas. It should be the same here; unfortunately some drivers are dressed like mobsters and are very rude to passengers,” he said.
The former traffic chief said that despite requests to avoid colours such as blue and green for three-wheelers as they are hard to spot at night, still no measures had been taken to enforce colour codes such as beige, yellow or white for even half a trishaw’s cab body.Sri Lanka has about 800,000 three wheelers and annually about 200 fatal accidents are caused by three-wheelers.
Traffic police statistics show that in the first six months of 2013 there were 132 fatal accidents, 535 serious injuries and 1,500 minor injuries from accidents involving three-wheelers.
