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By Chandani Kirinde- Lobby Correspondent

Parliamentarians took time off from their usual political bickering this week to discuss an issue that is fast becoming a growing menace to the public of the country as a whole- Road Accidents. Caused mainly by negligent and careless driving and poor driving skills, road accidents on an average are claiming around seven lives daily, while rendering thousands of others maimed.

The transport sector and particularly, the need for better rules to ensure road safety, came up for discussion when Minister of Transport, Nimal Siripala De Silva introduced to the House the Motor Traffic (Driving Schools, Driving Instructors & Assistant Driving Instructors) Regulations. Minister De Silva said the new rules would help in imparting better training to learners and maintain standards in the driving schools in the country.

MPs across the board agreed on the need to take urgent measures to discipline drivers and bring down the number of accidents taking place in the country. “There is an urgent need to curb the high number of road accidents, a majority of which involve three-wheelers and motorcycles. We hope to introduce more stringent safety rules, especially for three-wheelers, in the near future,” the Minister said.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti said the new regulations would help maintain proper standards among driving schools but, said implementation will be an uphill task. “The rules stipulate that only persons who have had a driving licence for over five years can be a trainer, which is a positive thing but, we have to ensure these persons are able to impart proper training to new drivers,” he said.

The lack of training for three-wheeler drivers was discussed by many of the MPs. State Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training, Palitha Range Bandara said the UNP had introduced both the private bus service as well as three-wheelers as measures to help the underprivileged people of this country but, by now, the detrimental aspects of these measures can be seen.

“Today there are nearly a million three-wheelers on the road and, of this, around 500,000 are in the Western Province. It is young men, mostly dropouts of schools, who make a living as three-wheeler drivers. My opinion is that, able bodied youth of this country, who should be contributing more effectively to the country’s economy today, are trapped inside three-wheelers and remain so till old age. Unfortunately, three-wheeler drivers are often linked to nefarious activities, and accidents involving them are also high. We have to take masseurs to stop this trend,” he said.

UPFA MP Prasanna Ranatunga said, while the introduction of regulations for driving schools is a good move, Government must be mindful of the fact that, if prices charged by these schools are not controlled, there will be many new learners who are unable to afford the costs and hence, resort to driving without proper training.

He also spoke on the need for the State bus service to be strengthened. “Today, the private bus operators are holding the government to ransom, because they carry the bulk of the passengers. In this situation, it has become difficult to strengthen the State bus service,” he said. Mr. Ranatunga also spoke on the need for better training for private bus drivers and conductors.

UNP MP Ajith Manapperuma noted it is important to train instructors if there is to be better road discipline in the country. “We have to set up a training centre for driving instructors because, at present, it is done in an ad hoc manner,” he said.

Under the new regulations, driving schools will be required to maintain a permanent office housed in a building, with facilities for lectures, including a display system model of a motor vehicle; facilities for technical training as well as an area to park vehicles.
Driving schools will be categorised as A, B and C, and will need to register with the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic for a fee, renewed every two years.

Every Driving Instructor or Assistant Driving Instructor will be required to pass the exam for them, conducted by the Dept of Exams or by the Commissioner General. The exam will test their knowledge on traffic rules, Highway Code, method of teaching and instructing, safe driving, ethics, first aid, mechanical and technical knowledge and road safety.

The regulations for new driving schools will come into effect on a date to be gazette by the Transport Minister, while for existing driving schools, they are effective from January 1, 2017.