News
Traffic offences: Committee proposes revised fines
View(s):By Kasun Warakapitiya
Thirty five traffic offences for which fines should be increased have been identified by a review committee, its chairman and Transport Ministry Secretary Nihal Somaweera said. He said the recommendations would be submitted to Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva before taking them up for discussion with stakeholders.
The committee has proposed that for speeding offences the fine should be proportionate to the speed. Accordingly if the speed limit is exceeded by 20 percent, the fine will be Rs. 5,000 while exceeding the speed limit between 25 and 50 percent will bring a fine of Rs. 15,000. If the speed limit is exceeded by 50 percent a fine of Rs. 25,000 will be imposed.
For reckless driving and driving without a licence, the fine will be Rs. 25,000 as proposed earlier. For the offence of overtaking from the left, the proposed fine of Rs. 25,000 will be significantly reduced. Mr Somaweera said that for some offences, for which there were still a ridiculous fine of only Rs. 20, the committee had recommended a fine of about Rs. 1,000.