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Enforce rear-seat-belt law on highways to save lives: AA
The Automobile Association of Ceylon has strongly recommended the immediate implementation of the rear seat belt rule on vehicles plying on the Southern Highway and the Airport Expressway.
The AA said the move would help save lives in serious accidents.
“It should be mandatory for the passengers to wear rear seat belts for their own safety. This could save lives. Like the Government has enforced the helmet law, it should also enforce the rear seat belt law immediately,” AA Consultant Secretary Anton Kandiah said.
He said the association last week sent letters to the President and the Prime Minister, explaining measures necessary for the safety of passengers. Traffic Police statistics show that at least six people are killed and some 40 are wounded in road accidents in Sri Lanka every day. Mr. Kandiah said it was regrettable that road accidents had now become the number one killer in the country today.
There were around 2245 motor traffic related deaths in 2014 with more than 6,800 suffering severe injuries.
In 2009, Jean Todt, President of the Paris-based Federation Internationale de L’ Automobile (FIA) which is the largest motoring organisation in the world, visited Sri Lanka and observed that 25 per cent of the road deaths and injuries could be avoided by using the car seat belts, the AA official said.