We do not have adequate busses and trains in our public transport system, particularly in suburban areas. Hence, motorcycle population has increased tremendously. There are 4,840,000 registered motorcycles in Sri Lanka; i.e. almost 1/3 of the adult population own a motorcycle.
Most children travel in Motorbikes with their parents due to convenience. Although, many parents wear helmets to simply abide by traffic laws, they do not provide helmets for their children. AA Ceylon conducted a campaign “Safer Ride for All” in 2014 with a FIA Grant programme to educate and influence motorcyclists to wear helmets. This campaign was successfully concluded with the support of the National Council for Road Safety, Ministry of Transport, Department of Police, Colombo Municipal Council and motorcycle enthusiasts.
Today, due to strict enforcement of traffic laws, over 98% of adults riding motorbikes wear helmets. Need of the hour is to educate parents on the importance of providing a helmet for their children; not just to abide by the law, but for the sake of theirchildren’s safety.2515 deathswere reported through road accidents in 2022.Motorcycle accidents accounted for 5,133 people who sustained disabilitiesalong with806 deaths,411 of them beingchildren.
The World Bank reveals an average of 38,000 crashes annually in Sri Lanka, resulting in around 3,000 deaths and 8,000 serious injuries. They also indicated that over US $ 2 billion additional investments are needed to combat road safety issues. Stage 1 of this project will aim at educating parents and all motorcycle riders on the importance of providing a helmet to every child accompanied on a motorcycle. The Traffic Police would initially allow a grace period for parents to provide helmets for their kids.
Meanwhile, the Traffic Police; Authorities in all relevant ministries;Doctors;Teachers;Parents; Students and all motorcycle enthusiasts are expected to be involved in educating the public on “Why every child needs a helmet?”. Stage 2 of the project aims at encouraging Police officers to impose fines on motor traffic regulatory violations. The gazette notification was issued by the Transport and Highways Minister on July 7, 2022, under Section 158 of the Motor Traffic Act. According to the notification, every person who rides a motorcycle, along with the pillion on any road should wear a protective helmet (with or without a visor).
Nevertheless, no action has been taken against parents who risk their children’s liveson motorbikes, mainly due to sympathy factors. With the assistance of the authorities from National Council for Road Safety, Ministry of Transport, Department of Police, The Lady Ridgeway Hospital, National Child Protection Authority, Ministry of Education, Lions club of Hendala and Corporates, we wish to address this national issue and force every motorcyclerider accompanying children to provide ‘a safer helmet for kids’ to protect the future generation of Mother Lanka. While thanking you for participating at the media briefing, we urge you to provide maximum publicity for this project, which aims at protecting children as pillions on motorbikes.
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