Old vehicles are not the ‘wrong-doers’ on the road “Sri Lanka considering removing old vehicles off roads” read the headline of an article in the Sunday Times Business page of September 27. Old vehicles could be categorised into: i) used by one owner for personal use which has done hardly 150,000 km over 20 years [...]

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Old vehicles are not the ‘wrong-doers’ on the road

Three wheelers are not a safe mode of travel especially in the hands of reckless drivers

“Sri Lanka considering removing old vehicles off roads” read the headline of an article in the Sunday Times Business page of September 27.

Old vehicles could be categorised into:

i) used by one owner for personal use which has done hardly 150,000 km over 20 years and

ii) vehicles used for hire and transport purposes which have done over 500,000 km.

More accidents and death occur due to high speed modern sophisticated vehicles, three wheelers and motorbikes.

The PSD vehicle which met with an accident killing five occupants is a new brand of vehicle driven at high speed, breaking all road rules.

Similarly most of the hit and run vehicles are also high speed modern vehicles. Most deaths occur in accidents involving three wheelers which are not a safe mode of travel especially in the hands of reckless drivers.

Many countries have banned the importation of three wheelers or restricted their presence in cities, due to safety concerns and congestion of traffic.

Many old vehicles over 30 – 40 years old – some of the “SRI” numbered vehicles are still being maintained in topping condition.

If an old vehicle is to be removed from the roads, the owner should be granted a tax free car permit, as compensation to enable the owner to go for a new vehicle.

A |Town Ace or Hiace in good condition that is over 20 years old, has a market value from Rs. 2 million – 3 million; is it wise to deprive an owner of such a vehicle, the right to own a vehicle for flimsy reasons? A vehicle purchased 20 years ago for say Rs. 600,000 is today worth Rs. 2.5 million.

The earning power (dollar rate ) 20 years ago was much less than today and the owner has passed retirement age and has lost the capacity to earn a big sum to purchase a brand new vehicle at the current market value.

Most of the school vans, vegetable /fish transportation and wayside string hopper businesses etc, are conducted in old vehicles.

Depriving these owners of old vehicles would result in mass scale unemployment and resentment against the Government.

The business magnates in the car world would suggest so many dubious ways to augment their sales.

The remedy for the traffic congestion is to
a) ban import of reconditioned vehicles
b) allow one individual to have only one vehicle
c) additional one lane to be laid with the existing one (the Galle Road renovation has had no provision for additional lanes, only a new outlook given, has marginal benefit only), more fly-overs to be constructed
e) more traffic police to be deployed during peak hours
f) parking to be on one side of the road on peak hours
g) permanent parking on busy roads (8 to 10 hours during day time) be banned (shop owners, hiring vehicles etc)
h) business on vehicles on busy roads be prevented
i) beggars be removed from colour lights junctions
j) pedestrians to wear illuminative coats or carry a torch in the nights, especially when crossing the roads
k) overtaking in major approach roads to the city be completely banned during peak hours
l) vehicles forming additional lanes on their own without the approval of the traffic police to be charged. If these measures are implemented traffic congestion could be reduced to a large extent instead of banning old vehicles on the road.

Karalasingam Sivalingam
Via email


Kill him not let him go

Which man could be untroubled
When he knows the dreaded end is near
Must pay for the crime committed
With his own life that’s very dear.

When an innocent child did he ever
Think that he’d commit a crime
The spirit of fate had marked him thus
And thus he must end his time.

Condemned to hang at first light of dawn
On confirmation of the night before
As time wore on, the order did come
It read- Kill him not let him go.”

A quirk of fate fooled everybody
For the order lacked punctuation,
It was meant “Kill him- not let him go”
But misinterpreted: “Kill him not- let him go.”

Out of the clutches of all those who
Collaborated to take his life
Their efforts failed beyond understanding,
Who has the right to take another’s life?

Two wrongs don’t make one right;
He who permits judicial murder kills his peaceful nights.
Avengeful act of lawfulness
Is akin to lawlessness.

-George Eddie
Ragama


Please Mr. President don’t legally kill anyone

Thank you, Don Manu for that excellent article on the Hangman.  I do hope that the President will read and digest every word you have said. We as individuals, as a nation have NO right to legally kill anyone.

We as a nation need to develop a philosophy that is positive, that will help us grow as humans, as a nation.  The centuries-old prison system is more negative than positive, it has NOT helped anyone.

This Thrice Blessed land should develop a system that will be a beacon to the rest of the world. We should go on the path of Compassion, Care and Cure.

Please Mr President do not legally kill anyone  on my behalf.

Sujatha Wickramasinghe Samarajiwa
Via email


RMV’s decision unfair to small-scale entrepreneur 

The actions of the RMV and the Traffic Police are making life impossible for the small and medium scale entrepreneur to exist. Accidents and safety issues are put forward as the front to interfere with the general life of the public.

Government mechanism interfering in the personal lives of ordinary citizens was one of the key factors leading to the fall of the previous regime. We sincerely hope that some lessens have been learnt.

Accidents occur and are on the increase due to many reasons and I believe the leading reasons are:
*People obtaining a driving licence without the proper competence to drive.
*The adverse mental state of the driver while driving.

Solve this and 80% of the ‘accidents’ problem will go away. One will understand that there is a significant and wide social issue involved here.

Troubling the majority of genuine people travelling on the road will never solve this issue.

An entrepreneur uses a series of transport modes -from walking, to bicycle, to motor cycle, to Dimo Batta type of small vehicle, to lorry and so on.

He buys a car only after he reaches a certain standard in life. Until then he does everything in the single vehicle he owns because he has no choice.

Prosecuting him for doing so is a crime of the first degree committed against the individual and the economy of the country.
For example take a small scale entrepreneur struggling to survive.

He uses his Dimo Batta type of vehicle for everything. Not only dual purpose but multipurpose. i.e . to conduct his day-to-day business, to take his family on a pilgrimage, to function as a hearse or as an ambulance to take a sick person to hospital and so on. The small scale entrepreneur is the life force of that small society.

So what comparatively major harm is there in having a small seat, or having a window in the load area of his vehicle? This makes good all round purpose for the entrepreneur with limited means.

If he can afford to buy a car he would not be taking his family on a pilgrimage in the Dimo Batta. Also it’s difficult to find a police or armed forces vehicle that does not have a locally built seat in the load area.

It is intelligent use of the space for dual purpose, passengers and cargo.

So why are the desk job RMV personnel putting forward administrative issues and theoretical arguments to strangle the entrepreneur. This certainly has a social and political impact.

The arguments put forward by the RMV are logically correct at a round table discussion. What is missed out is the probability of occurrence factor. Practically thousands of transport movements take place all the time.

In this process one or two accidents can and will happen–not because there is a seat or window at the back of the vehicle, but because of the two main reasons for accidents mentioned above.

If we say the RMV is dealing with a narrow localised subject oriented area, and that is the reason for this strangling action, what is actually incredible is that the senior police officers who are dealing with society and life on a much wider playing field are falling prey to the roundtable logic of the RMV.

We entrepreneurs ask only one thing. Simply allow the genuine majority of us to get on with our business without obstruction and we will deliver the goods not only for ourselves but also for the country.

This is a totally unnecessary and unproductive additional problem created by the non-contributors to the economy. The country has so much more to deliver.

Hence it is most prudent that this issue of seat and window be implemented only on a need only basis.

D.J Wijesinghe
Via email

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