A news feature in the Sunday Times of July 7, titled Police ‘have no clear strategy’ to limit accidents has drawn a reaction from the Director/ Superintendent of Police G.M.H.B. Siriwardhane, Police Public Relations Division and Police Media Spokesman.He said police have been able to bring down the number of fatal accidents in 2012 when [...]

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Less fatalities in 2012 compared to 2011 figures: Police Media Spokesman | Right of reply

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A news feature in the Sunday Times of July 7, titled Police ‘have no clear strategy’ to limit accidents has drawn a reaction from the Director/ Superintendent of Police G.M.H.B. Siriwardhane, Police Public Relations Division and Police Media Spokesman.He said police have been able to bring down the number of fatal accidents in 2012 when compared to 2011 by paying due attention to the patterns with regard to the occurrence of accidents, time of accidents and types of vehicles which had most met with accidents.

He said in 2011 the number of fatal accidents was 2,498 and the number of deaths was 2,677 while in 2012 the number of fatal accidents was 2,317 and the number of deaths 2444. He also noted that the serious accidents during the first six months of 2013 are less than the serious accidents that occurred during the first six months of 2012.

According to statistics he said from January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012 there were 1,255 fatal accidents and 1,331 deaths as against 1,053 fatal accidents and 1,129 deaths in the corresponding period this year. During the first six months of this year the number of road accidents causing injuries was less than the corresponding period for the previous year, he noted. Last year there were 3,739 cases of serious injuries while this year the figure was 3,273.

However, he noted that 102 fatal accidents have been reported in 2011 caused by drunken drivers while 103 fatal accidents have been reported in 2012 and 45 in 2013 up to now. Up to June 30 this year the police have arrested 20,091 drivers who were under the influence of liquor.

“It is worth mentioning that the great dedication of the Police officers has been the main reason behind the reduced number of fatal accidents,” he said. Everyone should deem it their duty to appreciate the yeoman service rendered by the Police Officers who spend most of the time of the day discharging traffic control duties exposing themselves to sun, rain, dust and smog even at the risk of their own health.

Note by the News Editor: The Sunday Times in its article was quoting an expert in transportation who said police had no strategy in dealing with the causes of traffic accidents.

Attempts were made to get in touch with police officials dealing with traffic to seek responses on the comments made by the expert, prior to publication of the article but they were not available for comment. If such opportunities are made use of to provide the police viewpoint it would have been more useful for all parties concerned.




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