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Dangerous commute: Systemic loopholes behind bus accidents
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
A majority of bus-related accidents involve private buses — and these tend to be significantly deadlier.
Persistent issues such as police corruption, impractical scheduling, and indisciplined driving are steadily turning public transport into a public menace, largely due to systemic mismanagement.
In 2023, 1,568 accidents involved private buses, compared to 629 involving SLTB (Sri Lanka Transport Board) buses. The following year, 1,546 private bus accidents were recorded against 594 SLTB bus accidents. As of 2025, 389 accidents have involved private buses, while 144 have involved CTB buses.
Oversight of private buses falls under provincial councils for intercity routes, while the National Transport Commission is responsible for cross-provincial services.
While traffic police are mandated to enforce legal compliance, bribes remain a common occurrence, undermining the imposition of penalties for dangerous driving.
Mawanella: A private bus taking schoolchildren on a trip skids off the road last week. Pic by Indika Handuwala
“A court process takes so long, and we end up having to pay about Rs. 15,000 when we’re pulled up for a violation. So it’s easier to just slip the cop Rs. 1,000 and go on with my day — and meet the schedule I was speeding to catch up to,” said one bus driver who operates the 168 route.
Despite road accidents averaging around 25,000 annually, fewer than 1,000 of these are officially attributed to speeding offences.
Mechanical failures, while a relatively low cause on record, are another factor cited in accident reports.
Transport Ministry authorities state that there are 12 SLTB regions islandwide, each managed by a regional manager, regional operations manager, financial operations manager, and engineering operations manager — all responsible for tasks relevant to their domain before a bus departs the depot. There are 107 depots across the country. However, several bus owners told theSunday Times that these checks are rarely performed.
Nuwara Eliya: A private bus topples injuring 23 early morning on Saturday. Pic by Ranjith Rajapaksha
One conductor, on a bus from Kesbewa, shared that the driver often walks into the depot and simply starts the bus without undergoing any checks. Just yesterday (24), the bus broke down mid-commute, causing commuters and bus staff both inconvenience and financial loss, he said.
An increasingly urgent concern, drivers say, is the widespread use of alcohol and narcotics, including methamphetamine.
“A lot of drivers use ‘ice’, and this severely impacts their reflexes, which is extremely dangerous on the road. These things need to be checked by officers who don’t take bribes,” another driver on the 175 route stressed.
The Transport Ministry is working with the Ministry of Digital Economy to roll out an online penalty system that will require drivers to pay fines digitally and on the spot, according to National Road Safety Committee Convener Damian Weerakkody. He told the Sunday Times that an 85-point strategy is currently being implemented by the Transport Ministry to introduce systems aimed at eliminating corruption, empowering drivers, and improving safety for passengers and pedestrians.
Tangalle: SLTB bus and lorry collision on Saturday. Pic by Chandrasena Gamage
“We must address the challenges private bus drivers face, including the lack of basic worker rights such as EPF, ETF, insurance, and decent working conditions — all of which contribute to poor performance in what is already an extremely high-risk job,” he said.
He added that the Ministry’s approach will first focus on empowering drivers and rebuilding their public image, before moving toward stricter penalties. “We will create the legal infrastructure and enabling environment while empowerment measures are rolled out.”
On the issue of police bribery and corruption, he said the Ministry is working closely with law enforcement and that intelligence and officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption will routinely go undercover to identify corrupt officials and take disciplinary action. “This must also go hand in hand with efforts to uplift the lives of police officers so they don’t resort to petty corruption like this,” he added.
| Death knell for over a thousand in road accidents so far this yearBy Tharushi Weerasinghe Over a thousand people have died from road accidents between January and the third week of May this year. Sri Lanka Police have recorded 1027 deaths from 964 fatal accidents as of 21 May 2025. The police media division noted that accidents are usually separated on the severity of the harm. Apart from the fatal accidents, 1977 accidents causing severe harm, 3995 accidents causing minor injuries, and 1533 accidents causing property damage were recorded at 21 May 2025. This brings the total of road accidents causing varying degrees of harm to 8,469. Motorbikes continued to be the vehicle most involved in accidents, a trend seen in 2023 and 2024, with three-wheelers and cars coming second and third on the lists, respectively.  Motorbikes continued to be the vehicle most involved in accidents with three-wheelers coming second
But these statistics do not include the spate of accidents that took place over Friday night and Saturday or any incidents between the 21st and today. Three people were killed and over 35 injured in four separate road accidents reported from different parts of the country today, police said. One person died and 13 others were injured when a Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus rear-ended a tipper truck in Weliara along the Colombo–Wellawaya road this morning. Among the injured were 12 passengers and the truck driver. In Warapalana, along the Yakkala–Kirindiwela road, a motorcyclist was killed and another person injured following a collision with a bus. Meanwhile, a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle near the 2nd kilometre post on the Eravur–Punnakuda road succumbed to injuries after being admitted to the Batticaloa Hospital. His identity is yet to be confirmed. Separately, 23 passengers were injured when a bus veered off the road and overturned in Toppass, Nuwara Eliya. Police said the injured are believed to be residents of Kiriwawula in Kurunegala. | |
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