Letters
View(s):Accidents on expressways: Human limitations and other concerns
Though at least six road deaths are reported every day, still we are unable to take effective measures to bring this alarming figure down. Adding to the problem are fatal accidents on our expressways. The traffic police often cite reasons such as high speed or sleepiness as reasons for these 
tragedies. But recent studies have established correlations between road accidents and psychological and physiological limitations of humans.
Analyses of technically unexplainable accidents have confirmed that accidents could occur not only due to the user misbehaviours but also due to inadequate contrast to increase level of arousal or in other words alertness. After investigating about 1,500 unexplainable accidents since 1999 on old and newly built roads in Germany, it was found that about 75 per cent of these accidents have occurred due to psychological and physiological limitations of humans. These accidents had been caused due to misperception, overloading of driver’s ability to perceive and react, deficiencies in optical orientations and guidance and inconsistencies between drivers expectations, habits, road design and signage.
Drivers follow the road with an expectation and orientation logic formed by their experience, local knowledge and immediate perception of the road course. They react to this road environment with their actions, in the same way a person climbing stairs reacts intuitively to the height, depth and width of the steps. Unexpected mismatches or objects disturb the automatic sequence of operations, possibly causing the driver to “stumble”. Further due to the specifics of our balance organs in the ears, joints, muscles and soles of the feet we are able to negotiate a left curve easier than a right curve.
With this introductory note, I intend to take up several important concerns which the authorities should focus on.
Amount of information versus driving quality
Katunayake Expressway: An accident at the entry point
It is well known that the amount of information that has to be processed influences the quality of driving. Yerkes and Dodson found that the quality of driving is affected by the amount of information to be processed; they stated that driving quality varies. Status of spatial perception and information processing ability at higher speed such as 100kmph or higher is completely different from common sense principles we generally assume, in low speed environments.
At higher speeds drivers tend to pay much attention to the basic tasks of vehicle control; thereby they are likely to be slower in responding to hazards. These circumstances imply that reaction time values we have been used to adopt may not be adequate at higher operating speeds. On other hand one may be able to argue that driver vigilance may increase with higher speeds, leading to equal or faster reaction times. Which model to adhere to is really an open research question.
Concerns for integration during design stages
Conventionally we used to ensure consistency in terms of operating speeds, Cross-section geometry, level of service etc, but we have not yet adequately thought of driver’s workload. Designers must take all attempts to maintain “work load consistency” likely to emerge due to design considerations along a road course.
Designers must ensure consistent level of arousal that is not too low and not too high.
For example, lengthy monotonous approaching sections (leads to low arousal status) should be avoided by regularly swinging the horizontal alignment, with desirable curves so that the field of view will help to increase arousal level and thereby to decrease speed. Certainly a further review of “content volume” of signage along our expressways is necessary to assess and establish affordable thresholds for information overloading. In our case, unfortunately we have been compelled to have direction signs in all three languages, resulting in huge signage boards. This aspect too needs a second thought by the authorities concerned. For example, a foreigner by default is compelled to take greater perception time to view and fix where English words are on a direction board compared to the perception time normally taken by a local user for the same purpose.
Designers must provide allowances for error management practices, by providing “forgiving road side environments” for prevention and recovery in case of an emergency.
Adequacy of shy line offset
You may probably have observed that on the southern expressway, drivers who maintain the posted speed or a higher speed tend to reduce their speed or move closer to the centre of lanes or take both these actions when they happen to perceive that the shy line offset is inadequate on bridges and inner and outer shoulders. The offset to a fixed hazard from the edge of the traffic lane beyond which none of above manoeuvres is needed is described as the acceptable “shy line offset”. The shy line offset is conventionally taken as the distance from the edge of the traffic lane to the outer edge of the shoulder. Accordingly when the 85th percentile speed is 100kmph, the shy line offset should be 3.0m on near side and 2.0m on offside. You do not get these basic parameters established on the southern expressway, yet airport expressway seems satisfactory in this aspect.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning (skidding) occurs when the drainage capacity of the tyre tread pattern and the pavement surface is exceeded and the water begins to build up in front of the tyre. As the water builds up, a water wedge is created, producing a hydrodynamic force that can lift the tyre off the road surface. This is considered full dynamic hydroplaning, and, because the water offers little shear resistance, the tyre loses its tractive ability and the driver loses control of the vehicle.
As far as I am aware both the southern and the airport expressways experience this phenomenon. This situation arises particularly at super-elevation transition stretches of reverse curves, and the situation becomes worse when the vertical profile of such sections is either 0% or lower than 0.3%. Though many other attributes contribute towards hydroplaning, design stage inputs could mitigate the situation to a great extent.
Without a comprehensive understanding of the human limitations low accident risk cannot be achieved. Our current design standards need to be updated by integrating the specific human behavioural attributes pertaining to our culture, other concerns and related principals of spatial perceptions.
Goyan Dias
via email
A Constitutional crisis
The 18th Constitutional Amendment is at the centre of controversy,
Getting it lawfully cleared is an absolute necessity.
The Incumbent President seems keen to seek office for a 3rd term,
His seeking office for a 3rd term has still not been confirmed.
Banners and posters in favour of the President cannot change the Constitution,
Only legally valid provisions can change the prevailing position.
Opposition against the 3rd term is gathering momentum,
How far these opposing views remain acceptable is an issue in question
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely,
In the President’s case, Lord Acton’s Theory has proved it rightly.
Full powers vested in one person do not augur well for a country,
An equal distribution of power will be a healing remedy.
The subjects of a developing country look forward to good governance,
With power vested in one-man, good governance is out of the equation.
Some Ministers have complained that there is no equal distribution of funds,
Signs of progress and prosperity will disappear if this is not properly done.
With a President at the helm of affairs, power is unlikely to be shared,
Shortcomings of the state administration will soon be bared.
Under a one-man show, a new political culture will be institutionalised,
The arteries of democracy will be constantly pressurised.
The Executive President will not be answerable to the Parliament,
Under such a set up, the country will be placed in a predicament.
There will be no accountability to waste or corruption,
To suit ‘whim and fancy’ appointments will be made to responsible positions.
Under such a background, the Executive Presidency is not at all a blessing,
Overlooking the prevalent constitutional provisions will be a curse incoming.
M.I.Mohamed Ansar
Matara
Hapless senior citizens put up with all without a whimper
I write on behalf of myself and 1,998,656 elderly and retired (non-pensioners) or around 9.8% of the entire population of Sri Lanka, most of whom have been severely affected by the recent rapid economic growth of Sri Lanka.
While acknowledging that economic growth is a commendable achievement, much lauded in the Central Bank Reports, it has however taken its toll on the elderly and retired (non-pensioners). Many in this segment of society who retired from the private sector exist on their savings from their working days and the EPF & ETF contributions which have been prudently invested in fixed deposits with Banks, mostly State Banks.
The monthly interest given by the banks on these deposits enabled us, till recently, to take care of our basic needs. The ever-rising cost of living and medical expenses is an ongoing battle we have to deal with.
However this battle became unbearable when the Central Bank slashed the interest rates in April from 13.5% in 2013 to 7.75% in 2014 amounting to a 42% cut which is a drastic drop in our already limited income while all expenses have remained the same or are rising daily. If such a brutal cut in income was foisted on any other segment of society there would have been much public agitation but the hapless Senior Citizen however has had to put up with all this without even a ‘whimper!
Lately several reputed Banks have put forth various ‘Pension schemes’ for non State workers. Many advertisements both in the newspapers and TV encourage people to save for their old age in several schemes offered by the Banks for citizens of Sri Lanka. Eligibility for these schemes however is only upto 64 years thus disqualifying approx. 1.6 mn Senior Citizens over the age of 65 years or 7.8% of the total population of Sri Lanka.
I know full well that the Government would not deliberately foist such an unbearable burden on a helpless and powerless segment of society as the elderly and the retired. Economic growth coupled with a secure safety net for the vulnerable segments of society is the most pragmatic and humane way forward.
Here are some measures that will help:
a) increasing the interest rate paid to 65+ Senior Citizens on their bank deposits to the 2013 level of 13.5% not subject to interest fluctuations on account of Central Bank inflation rates,
b) providing a 50% discount on regular medicines as the 5% discount presently given is totally inadequate considering the cost of medicines,
c) providing a Health Insurance scheme for the elderly who are presently denied this facility.
d) providing discounts on household telephone rental & bills,
e) providing food stamps/discounts on a basket of essential food items
f) free public transport on buses and trains.
D.M. Sunetha Kannangara
Nawala
Do away with donations: Wake-up call to Education Ministry
These days, state schools are processing applications to finalise the January 2015 intake for Grade 1. An integral component of the process is an interview, where most schools still ‘request’ parents for ‘donations’, in spite of a directive by the Ministry of Education (MoE) that parents should not be ‘requested’ to make ‘donations’ at the point of entering a child to school.
Some school authorities, however, take care not to blatantly violate the MoE directive, and have found other ways to solicit donations. The method adopted by a school located in or around Colombo 4 is to include the president or another committee member of the Past Pupils Association in the interview panel. The sole purpose of her sitting on the panel is to inform parents that the school needs ‘donations’ for various development projects, and the bigger the ‘donation’, the greater the chance of the child gaining entrance. I would imagine this tactic of getting a member of the PPA to do the dirty work must be commonplace.
Suffice to say, those of us who are in touch with ground realities are aware that we live in a day and age where people sometimes go to hospitals sans any significant ailment, for the sake of a plate of rice (and I am not talking about rural areas either), and these are the very people who are ‘requested’ for ‘donations’.
The other day I visited a sports recreational club and a member of the minor staff (if I would be excused for using the term), brought a letter which said he has been ‘requested’ for a ‘donation’ of Rs 150,000 if his child is to gain entrance to a school in a district bordering Colombo.
So, what then is the solution?
The MoE should immediately send another circular reminding all school authorities that the initial circular in this regard was sent for a reason, and that they should not find loopholes and continue to ‘request’ for ‘donations’. The new circular should clearly state, one way or the other, parents should not be requested for donations.
All donations pledged by parents for the sake of entering a child to a school in January 2015, should be annulled. Donations already paid should be returned.
MoE should set-up a unit with hotlines (answered by trained personnel) through which any ‘request’ for a ‘donation’ can be reported. The ministry must ensure that parents who report ‘requests’ for ‘donations’ (or their children) are not victimised. (If such a mechanism is already in place, it is surely ineffective).
The MoE should bring to the notice of the public the unit, phone numbers and processes in place. This should be done every year (as a reminder) during the school admission period.
The MoE should take tough action against those who continue to violate the rules prohibiting donations. It should take legal action against school authorities or any other person involved in soliciting donations.
If such laws need to be first ratified by the regulators, so be it.
Now to the second part of the issue and indeed the solutions. Let us assume that most of the funds raised by these ‘donations’ are actually used for school development projects. Then, if such donations cease to flow, how can schools develop?
The Government has to reassess and accept that funding school development projects is the responsibility of the Government, not that of parents trying to gain school admission for their children. The Government must allocate funds for this purpose in the Budget.
School authorities could also continue to play a role in developing their own schools. Albeit such activity must be restricted to involvement of parents whose children are already in school, and past pupils.
The Ministry of Higher Education introduced a leadership training programme a few years ago for new entrants to national universities. This is at the cost of hundreds of millions of rupees. It is well known that the foremost aim of this programme is to eradicate ragging of freshers. It is high-time the Government displayed similar resolve to address this issue.
Sweena Weerasinghe
Colombo 4