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Who gives the
licence to kill? A spokesman
for the bus operator admits that a shocking 5000 of the 20,000 private
bus drivers know little and sometimes careless for the highway code
while upto 200 of them are known to be regular drug users. Others blame
the mushroomed driving schools for putting unfit or ill trained
drivers on the roads after helping them to obtain licences under
the counter- licences to kill. They say they
have started recruiting 200 new traffic officers while the Transport
Minister has pledged that severe penalties including cancellation
of licences would be imposed on reckless or negligent drivers. But
most of these like most matters in politics is still at the promising
stage and the people are waiting to see what will be produced-hoping
that the wait won't be as long as that of a queue at a village bus
stand. National Transport
Commissioner, A. B.Thalagune said that a training course that was
started for conductors and bus drivers two years ago had been stopped
due to lack of funds. "We trained
about 10,000 drivers and 10,000 conductors under this programme
which was funded by the World Bank. Although there is an urgent
need for such a training programme the Commission is helpless due
to lack of funds," he lamented. He also said
that since the Commission was only an advisory body' without regulatory
powers it was restricted in taking stern action against aggressive
drivers on the road. Mr. Thalagune
pointed out that although the commission had made several recommendations
regarding road safety they had been over looked. Talking about
measures that will be taken in the future, he said from 2003 route
permits will not be issued to single bus owners. Describing it as
a move to reduce competition among private bus operators, he said
a bus owner should own at least 50 buses to be eligible for the
permit. If multi- bus
operators are permitted to operate they will not compete with their
own bus drivers, he said. Drivers being
over worked is another reason for the increase in road accidents.
According to labour regulations a bus driver is expected to work
seven and a half hours and on special occasions they could work
14 hours. If the drivers
are required to work the following day also, they are entitled for
a rest period of ten hours before starting work. However in practice
the situation is different. Health experts
say fatigue is often a major cause of accidents as drivers may have
visionary, auditory, and reduced attention level and slow reflex
action as the day progresses. The National
Transport Medical Institute Chairman Gamini Karunanayake said little
attention is given to medical fitness of a driver. Many drivers,
he said, suffer from serious ailments such as coronary heart disease,
defective vision, epilepsy and high blood pressure in addition to
being pahysically, mentally and temperamentally unfit. In the backdrop
of the recent spate of accidents, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles
has come under attack for liberally issuing heavy vehicle licences
without subjecting the drivers to strict examination. "We are
only a body issuing the licences to those with minimum qualific
ations that make them eligible to obtain a licence. When we issue
a person a licence, it does not say that he/she is a professional
bus driver. It only says that he has fulfilled the minimum requirements
to drive a heavy coach," RMV Commissioner E.Jinadasa said. Again as a
government body without powers of punishment, RMV officials have
suggested that a fine of Rs.50,000 be charged from drivers and bus
operators who are the culprits for severe accidents. While drivers
complain that bad road conditions, badly lit road signs and unmarked
bumps/humps also cause accidents, the Road Development Autho rity
says the fault lies both with motorists and pedestrians. An RDA official
said pedestrians do not adhere to road rules and cross roads from
wherever they please, often jumping over barriers, while drivers
avoid speed humps by driving on the wrong side of the road or by
ignoring road instructions. "Rarely do accidents occur merely
due to bad road conditions," he said. Some times
private buses are owned by top public servants, police higher ups
and even criminals inlcuding smugglers and drug addicts. In such
instances traffic offenders get away free by using influence or
by giving bribes. Police who
are the first to be at hand at an accident, have called for the
amendment of laws relating to violators of traffic rules.Since 1981
the spot fine has remained at Rs. 100 which is an ineffective detterent,
traffic Assistant superintendent V.T. Sundaralingam said. He said the
lack of long term planning, uneducated people choosing driving as
an easy employment opportunity, and the fact that 50 percent of
the drivers are inexperienced are factors that need to be addressed
immediately. Former DIG
Traffic, Camillus Abeyguna wardene says the lack of planning on
the part of the government and the police are partly to be blamed.
"Successive governments and police departments have not given
the problem of traffic management the attention it requires. Road
safety should be made government policy," he pointed out. He also called for more hi-tech equipment including speed cameras, red light cameras and unmarked cars with policemen to apprehend offenders. 'Survival
name of the game
Lack of job contracts, EPF and ETF payments and the lack of a retirement
scheme have contributed towards the insecurity of private bus drivers
and conductors.
Although this is a free economy, bus fares are not decided by the
bus owners, LPBOA General Secretary said emphasising that diesel
prices have however been escalating.
"The cost of diesel has increased by 200 percent while the
fares have only increased by 40 percent. In 1997 diesel was Rs 11.50
a litre, today it is Rs. 30.
"For the past three years we have had to bear a loss of Rs.
1,500 per day. If we run the bus our loss is about Rs. 500 whereas
is we don't run the bus our loss is about Rs. 2,000." "After going more than 20 times for discussions - we launched a strike because one has to let the public and the government feel the importance of the sector," Mr. de Silva said. No
safety standards
"In most of the buses there are no doors. Even if there are
doors they are kept open by the conductors to pick up passengers
on the way. This results in passengers being thrown out," Mr.
Ahangama said.
He also said the right side opening on a three wheeler was also
hazardous and should be closed.
The coroner identified drunkenness, speeding, incompetence, recklessness,
and carelessness among the commonest causes for accidents.
"Earlier a large number of accidents were due to CTB drivers.
But now they have been over taken by private bus and three wheel
drivers," the coroner said adding that 75 percent of three
wheelers operate without revenue licences. Sometimes the road conditions are not conducive to safety driving as pits are dug up for telecom and power lines and kept open. Stagnant water pools also contribute to road hazzards as the drivers try to avoid these and breach traffic laws. Minister
puts onus on owners
"What I propose to do is to hold the owner of the vehicle liable,"
Minister Marapana said at a meeting with top transport and other
officials to work out emergency measures to check the spate of road
accidents.
In the event of accidents, for the first offence the driver will
be warned, for the second his licence cancelled and for the third
the route permit of the owner cancelled, Minister Marapana said.
"If we are selecting a driver for our vehicle, we will always
first check his driving. Why cannot the bus owners also work with
the same responsibility," he asked.
The meeting discussed training programmes for private bus drivers
and workshops to be conducted by the police, the issuing of certificates
of competence to handle passenger vehicles, and medical certificates
to be required from drivers over 40 years of age and the detection
of vehicles which are not road worthy. But private bus Owners association spokesman Gemunu Wijeratne protested that if road worthiness tests were conducted, upto 75% of the buses would be thrown off the roads. He claimed that some private operators found it difficult to even buy new tyres and therefore proper maintenance was a major problem for them. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Most commuters
are balming reckless and profit crazy private bus operators for
the bloody madness or chaos on the roads.
