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Private buses run riot on the road
Private buses pay little heed to road rules, leading to many accidents, charge state officials, while private bus operators blame state-run transport bodies for the lack of discipline in the service.
Twenty two year-old Sadini’s dream of a happy wedded life was cut short last week when just three months into her marriage, a speeding private bus claimed the life of her 23 year-old husband.
Shihan Gunetillake, was travelling from his hometown Bentota to his wife’s family home in Panadura when a speeding bus hit his bike in Wadduwa around 5.30 a.m.
Shihan an employee of Sri Lankan Airlines, had many plans–not only careerwise. He intended to build a house and start a family. But the speeding private bus, plying from Matara to Colombo did not care.
It is not only Shihan’s life that private buses claimed recently. Dimuth Dayaratne (21), Amalshan Silva(23) and Ruwan Kumara(23) from Kegalle, died on the spot when the threewheeler they were traveling in, was hit by a speeding bus heading to Kandy from Colombo.
In another accident along the Tissamaharama-Kataragama main road a man was killed when a private bus hit his motorbike. A bus passenger who also sustained injuries was admitted to hospital.
In Thantirimale too a private bus hit a motorbike killing the rider a 37
year old man.
The scene of the Matale accident
According to the Private Passenger Transport Ministry 17, 067 private buses operate islandwide. Private Passenger Transport Minister C.B.Rathnayake told Parliament recently that 55 per cent of the people’s transport needs are met by the bus service. Of these 43 percent is met by the private bus service with 12 per cent being met by the Sri Lanka Transport Board (formerly CTB) bus service. He said only 3,500 CTB buses are up and running.
Meanwhile National Council for Road Safety chairman Gamini Ekanayake said private buses had become a road menace with 218 fatal accidents involving private buses being reported last year.
Short lived happiness: Shihan and Sadini on their wedding day just three months back.
Mr. Ekanayake said many private bus owners were politically connected and law enforcement officers were reluctant to take action against errant drivers.
“Private bus owners and drivers have not realised the importance of road and passenger safety. They follow rules only on expressways, but on ordinary roads they are killer drivers,” he said.
He said there was little point of drafting new laws and conducting awareness programmes on road safety, if enforcement bodies failed to take strict measures against offenders.
Some of the passengers who sustained injuries when the two buses collided in Matale on Friday
A former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Traffic) actively involved in drafting regulations on road safety believes that a demerit system could act as a deterrent.
“The driver improvement point system (de-merit system) is to be implemented before the end of this year. If a driver commits four offences, the driving licence would be suspended for 12 months. Spot fines and fines from courts too will affect the point system. Even parking offences would cost two points,” he said.
He said the Extraordinary Gazette Notification under the Motor Traffic Act, would make it compulsory for those driving public or private buses to not only obtain a medical certificate issued by the National Transport Medical Institute but the driver would also have to complete a first aid course and pass a medical and passenger knowledge exam conducted by the Medical Institute or any other institution authorised by the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic. The applicant’s criminal record would also be also looked into.
However Lanka Private Bus Operators Association (LPBOA) president Gemunu Wijeratne believes political appointments to bodies meant to regulate private buses have eroded the service.
Some of the passengers who sustained injuries when the two buses collided in Matale on Friday
“From the top post of the National Transport Commission, to the CTB and even the Western Province Transport Authority are all political appointments. There are a few qualified experts in the field of transport but their advice or assistance is not obtained,” he said.
He believes the lack of a timetable for the 17,000 odd private buses in the country was the main reason for the indiscipline in the service.
“If the NTC or the state comes up with a timetable for both private buses as well as CTB buses there would be control and discipline. A number of requests have been made but there has been no response from the authorities,” Mr. Wijeratne said, adding that thousands of bus passengers were now opting to travel by train or motorbikes. He said the increase in motorbikes on the roads had led to more accidents.
| Collision between two buses
About 40 people were injured in a collision on Friday between a private bus and a CTB bus in Matale. |
