They were proceeding to Kandy in a friend's car to meet their relatives. The driver moved the vehicle at full throttle till one of the grand children started screaming. No one knew the reason for the child's cry of anguish. Was it the heat or the inhospitable climate, they did not know.

The child had one demand: ''Stop the car here.'' The grand parents could not see the connection between the child's cry and the vehicle in which they were driven. The cry became loud and went into decibels which was unbearable. Finally they yielded. The car stopped. The distressed child pointed at the driver: ''I will not get into the car unless you change the driver.''

Their local parents were exasperated and bewildered. They asked the child what was wrong with the driver. "Can't you see grandma that he has come from hell!"

''Why do you say so'' asked the grandma.

"Why grandma this driver did not apply the brakes and stop the car at a single pedestrian crossing. He drove at break-neck speed disregarding the pedestrian on the crossing and at the last pedestrian crossing he nearly knocked down a child and his mother," the child said and refused to get into the car until the driver was changed. Finally, a relative drove them to Kandy. The relative made it a point to stop at all pedestrian crossings and observe traffic rules to the letter.

In Europe, children see the law in action when their parents violate traffic regulations. Even as babies they may have seen traffic policemen imposing spot fines when babies are not kept in a baby seat in a back seat of the car. They recognise that laws are strictly enforced by the Police.

Any foreigner visiting a developed country would find that people do not violate traffic laws. Even at a party where liquor is consumed in large quantities, the driver abstains from taking not more than two glasses of beer. If the Police detects a motorist who has taken even a little more than the permitted quantity of alcohol he/she will be taken to the Police Station and locked up till morning. Fines are very heavy for driving under the influence of liquor and the cancellation or suspension of the driving licence follows immediately.

In Sri Lanka, generally laws are there to be violated and those who violate the law becomes heroes. Traffic offences and spot fines are imposed at a ratio of 1000:1 violations. Any law abiding motorist can see how traffic laws are openly violated. The lanes on the road mean nothing to offenders. Hardly any vehicle runs within the lane. Many seem to think that lanes have been drawn by some crazy road workers for the edification of some foreign or local engineer.

Under Section 151(1) of the Motor Traffic Act, the maximum fine that could be imposed on a person driving a passenger car under the influence of liquor is Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 for driving a bus or a coach meant to carry passengers. If the vehicle meets with an accident and causes injury to a third party, the fine is Rs. 3,000 or/and a jail term. In the event of death the driver could be sentenced to a jail term up to ten years. But it will be very difficult to find a driver who had been charged in the Magistrate Court under Section 151 of the Motor Traffic Act and sentenced to a jail term.

When the plastic driving licence was introduced it was hailed as a innovative and a progressive step. But unlike the old driving licence which carried the sentences imposed on traffic offences on the licence itself, the plastic card (driving licence) has to be supplemented by another sheet on which the sentence is recorded.

As the sheet could be detached from the driving licence and there is no way in which anyone could identify the sheet that is attached to a particular driving licence, the driver who has convictions recorded on the sheet could throw it away and a blank sheet could be interpolated. There are people outside the RMV who sell such sheets for Rs. 50. Therefore, it is impossible for a Magistrate to find out the previous convictions of a particular offender. Any person driving a vehicle feels that he is free to commit any traffic offence without a sentence being imposed on him.

Namel Weeramuni, a solicitor who had practised in London for more than 20 years, returned to Sri Lanka on retirement. he finds it difficult to drive on Sri Lankan roads. He adheres to traffic laws and is a square peg in a round hole! He was so frustrated with the contempt with which both drivers and pedestrians treat the traffic laws in this country. He hopes to produce a short film - titled 'Road Etiquette' - 'Pare Sadacharaya' - on the importance of adhering to traffic laws. He said the first sign of the breakdown of law and order could be seen on Sri Lankan roads.

Now everyone is concerned with private bus drivers who are allegedly on a killing spree. Peace has dawned and there is no fear of bombs exploding around you. People are moving freely enjoying themselves on journeys across the length and breadth of the country. But an increasing number of people are killed by private bus drivers.

A Senior Police Officer was of the view that more than 25% of the drivers who drive private buses do not have licences to drive heavy vehicles. Even if they are arrested by the Police and produced in court for having killed a pedestrian, it is only in rare instances that they are punished.

This is a clear indication of the Rule of Law falling apart. No one is bothered. The people who are as equally guilty as the drivers take the law into their hands and set fire to private buses and damage public property and nothing whatsoever is done to arrest them. And what is more surprising is the Police deduce that there was some moral justification for such illegal action.

This attitude is worse than the original crime of killing pedestrians. It will be interesting to note that rarely or never are such offenders produced in Court. The reason for such public behaviour is not only that people are bent on summary punishment but it is more of a herd instinct of a group of citizens who try to show their anger and resentment and to prove that they can do better than the driver who killed the pedestrian, or the police who should bring him to book.

If the people are to be taught the basic tenets of discipline the first step is through observance of the basic rules of traffic laws. If pedestrians or motorists violate traffic laws they must be subjected to spot fines and the spot fines should be increased ten-fold. This may lead to corruption. But though corruption is endemic the fact that the police are corrupt should not deter the Legislature.

Nelson de Silva, a leading traffic lawyer, advises that applicants for licenses to drive buses must be sent to a school just as the CTB did and ought to be trained for at least three months before obtaining a certificate of competence from the training school. He says there are less accidents involving CTB buses than private buses. If training schools cannot be established, the authorities should expand the CTB training school to accommodate drivers of private vehicles who apply for driving licences for buses.

With the ceasefire people thought that there would be less violence in the country. What we see instead is continued carnage at the hands of private bus drivers and the underworld. The war seems to have stopped but the killings continue!

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