News
Spike in road deaths derails drive to reduce accidents
View(s):Efforts by the police and authorities to reduce road traffic accidents have suffered an early setback within the first two weeks of the new year, with more than 85 dead and several injured.
According to Deputy Inspector General W. P. J. Senadheera, who is in charge of road safety, the majority of the accidents were caused by drunk driving, while reckless driving or riding, too, resulted in some accidents.
Some 500 people driving under the influence were nabbed during special traffic operations.
The scene of the Beruwala accident on January 10: A motorcyclist was killed in the collision that police attributed to high speed
Police officers involved in traffic control said there was an average of seven deaths from road accidents, continuing from 2024.
Last year’s casualty figures were much higher than in 2024.
DIG Senadheera said more than 300 deaths were reported last year compared with 2004.
According to DIG Senadheera, pedestrians have been the most vulnerable group in accidents, with last year’s figures showing that 31% of the fatal accidents involved pedestrians.
Passers-by at the scene of the January 10 fatal accident in Beruwala carry the motorcycle to the roadside to ease traffic congestion. Pic by Thusitha Kumara
Police said that during the two weeks of the year, there has been a significant increase of motorbicycle accidents involving youth.
Two deadly accidents were reported in the Puttalam district, while sporadic accidents were reported from elsewhere.
Three people were killed last Sunday—two women and a man—in the Mundalama Navadankulama area on the Puttalam-Colombo main road in an accident involving a car and a van.
Police said investigations had revealed that the car driver had left around 4:00 a.m. on his journey and had fallen asleep.
The mother and son and a relative were killed.
In a separate accident involving two motorcycles on the following day, two people were killed in a head-on motorcycle collision in the Attawilluwa area of Puttalam.
One motorcyclist died of his injuries at the Puttalam Hospital, while the other died after being transferred to the Colombo National Hospital.
In another accident reported in Wellawaya, on January 10, a 23-year-old person riding a motorcycle at high speed crashed into a parked three-wheeler on the Thanamalvila–Wellawaya road and was killed.
Another motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a van on Galle Road in the Beruwala area on 10 January. The van driver travelling at high speed had lost control of the vehicle and gone into the opposite lane and crashed into the bike, police said.
A Western Province traffic police officer said that lack of concentration is one of the main causes of higher accidents.
One big distraction is the use of mobile phones while driving or riding. The law against the practice is being violated openly.
He said that in the past, specific operations targeted driving while using a mobile phone, but in recent years these detections have dropped.
Drivers and riders are also texting often, he said.
He recalled an incident in Athurugiriya, where a car driver had knocked down a motorcyclist, and investigations revealed that the driver told the victim he had been reading a text message on his mobile phone.
Many delivery riders are also searching the locations or trying to contact the recipients on the phones, he said, adding a directive is needed.
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