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Scores dying from bus frenzy to pick up passengers
A passenger gets off on the middle of the road. Pix by Anuradha Bandara
There have been thousands of bus accidents since January, with 186 fatalities, with increasing incidents of bus drivers racing each other to collect more passengers or reach their destinations faster.
Transport authorities agree, and say transport licence rules will be altered to prevent private fleets from employing drivers with no passenger transport skills.
Private buses have been involved in 2104 accidents in the six months till June and SLTB buses have been in 592 accidents. Of the 186 fatalities, 157 were from accidents involving private buses. About 18,000 of the 23,000 buses in the country are private buses.
Drink driving had decreased substantially due to strict surveillance by police, National Council for Road Safety (NCRS) Chairman Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said.
He admitted that implementing some traffic safety laws was difficult.
“The buses are regulated by the National Transport Commission (NTC) or provincial authorities. Both these bodies, however, have failed to provide us with timetables. We have gone to courts regarding this and the Supreme Court has ordered them to formulate timetables. Even though the order was given five years ago no one has looked into the matter,” Dr. Kodagoda said.
“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.”
An NCRS survey carried out last year shows at least 2,800 people have died in 36,000 bus accidents islandwide over the past 10 years. That report highlighted the three leading causes for accidents as high speed, reckless driving and alcohol.
The race is on: One private bus overtakes another
Lanka Private Bus Owners Association President Gemunu Wijeratne believes political appointments to bodies meant to regulate private buses have eroded the bodies’ service standards. “There are a few qualified experts in the field of transport but their advice or assistance is not obtained,” he said.
The country’s foremost expert in transport logistics and road management, Professor Amal Kumarage, said incorrect design of roads and failure by the authorities to strictly enforce the law were two of the main reasons behind the large number of accidents.
A road that once had a speed limit of 50km per hour once renovated and carpeted would see drivers hitting 70km an hour. “When you speed you also need more time to stop. On our roads the line of sight to stop is not enough especially since motorists speed. This needs to be looked into; it is an engineering failure as well,” he said.
A lack of proper investigation into the causes of fatal road accidents added to the failure to address the issue effectively, Prof. Kumarage said. He said SLTB buses had the best drivers but with irregular scheduling they were forced to compete with private buses to the detriment of their driving.
The Department of Motor Traffic intends to make passenger transport a distinct category when issuing licences from next year. Passenger transport drivers will also receive training in first aid, technical capability and road ethics.
An obviously unroadworthy bus hits the road