News
Fatalities mount in road accidents
A collision between a Polonnaruwa-Colombo passenger bus and a cement-laden lorry yesterday left 30 people injured, 25 of them needing hospital care.
An accident last afternoon on the Anuradhapura-Mihintale Road claimed two lives. Pic by Athula Bandara
The accident, which occurred around 3 a.m. in the Inamaluwa area near Dambulla, added to the road traffic toll around the country, with a rise in fatalities.
Police reports show that from Wednesday to Friday this week 10 people died and at least 70 were admitted to hospital with injuries sustained in road accidents.
Four were killed and 34 injured in two accidents, one in Puttalam on Friday morning and the other in Matara earlier this week, Puttalam police said.
In one, a state bus plying from Mullaitivu to Colombo collided near Sirambiadiya, Puttalam, with a tipper travelling ahead of it at 1.30am.
The site of the collision between a tipper carrying a 28-tonne load and a bus carrying 10 army employees in Sirambiadiya, Puttalam. Pic by Hiran Priyankara
Investigations are being carried out into a separate collision between a tipper carrying a 28-tonne load and a bus carrying 10 army employees.
Puttalam Base Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Sunith Attanayake said a driver and a passenger were killed in the accidents, while 34 others had been admitted to hospital. “None of the patients are in serious condition,” he said.
A man and a woman were killed in a collision between a three-wheeler and a double cab pick-up in Kotuwegoda, Matara. The double cab driver had been arrested.
There has been a significant increase in the number of road traffic deaths, with 314 more fatalities recorded this year already than during the whole of last year.
Police statistics show 674 deaths occurred last year in motorcycle accidents, the number rising to 815 deaths so far this year. Lorry accidents, which records the second highest number of fatalities, caused 269 deaths in 2014 and 272 this year.
Pedestrian accidents have also risen to 72 more than the 614 recorded last year.
A man injured in the accident that occurred in Inamaluwa area near Dambulla being taken to hospital. Pic by Kanchana Kumara
Questioned about this, DIG of Traffic Amarasiri Senaratne said, “Many accidents occur when people cross the road while absorbed in their cell phones and not being aware of vehicles coming up”.
He said the Traffic Department conducted many awareness programs for students, asking them to raise their hands while crossing the road, and to be aware of the vehicles.
But, he said, “Many videos recorded in our CCTV camera show none of the children use what we teach them. Almost all the pedestrians are in a hurry to cross the road and this increases the number of accidents.
“New laws and public awareness programmes need to be introduced to reduce the road accidents that occur,” DIG Seneratne said.
He added that there should also be special laws for heavy vehicles such as containers and fuel bowsers and that the government should consider increasing compensation payments to families who lost their family members.
In another incident reported this week, the assistant parish priest of St. Mary’s Church, Chilaw, Rev Fr Marlon Wijendra 29, died after being run over by a small lorry while riding his bike on the Chilaw road. Police are taking steps to arrest the driver.