A nation on the cliff’s edge

Editorials
By Editor_1
Soldiers and rescue workers stand by the debris of a passenger bus after it plunged into a precipice in Wellawaya, Sri Lanka on Friday (Sept. 5, 2025) -Prasanna Pathmasiri/AP

Confronting Sri Lanka’s road safety crisis

On the night of September 4, 2025, tragedy struck near Wellawaya. A bus carrying nearly 30 people, local tourists returning from a vacation, collided with another vehicle, broke through guardrails, and plunged almost 1,000 feet down a mountainside. Fifteen people, including five children, were killed instantly, while 16 others were injured. The scene that followed was one of chaos and despair, with soldiers, police officers, and volunteers scrambling to retrieve survivors and bodies from the mangled wreckage. The bravery of those who rushed to help was commendable. But beyond the human heroism lies a harsher truth: this catastrophe was no accident. It was another predictable outcome of Sri Lanka’s ongoing road safety crisis.

Just four months earlier, a similar disaster occurred in Kotmale, where a state-run bus, overflowing with passengers, veered off a cliff and into a ravine. Reports differ on the exact number of dead, but at least 21 lives were lost and more than 30 people were injured. These tragedies are no longer shocking anomalies; they are grim markers of a national emergency on Sri Lanka’s roads.

The statistics paint an equally chilling picture. In 2024 alone, there were 25,299 accidents, with 2,521 deaths – the highest toll in five years. From January to June this year, Sri Lanka recorded 1,274 fatal crashes and 1,351 deaths, an increase from the same period last year. By August, police data showed 1,700 lives lost in 1,605 fatal accidents. Over the past five years, more than 12,000 people have been killed in road crashes. Behind each number is a grieving family, a household suddenly thrown into despair, and survivors left with devastating, life-altering injuries.

Hospitals report that every night, between 30 and 40 crash victims are admitted, an unending stream of trauma that strains the country’s already burdened healthcare system.

The causes of this carnage are not mysteries. Reckless driving remains at the core: speeding, dangerous overtaking, ignoring signals, driving under the influence, or pushing vehicles beyond their limits.

In Sri Lanka’s mountainous regions, even the smallest error can be fatal. Yet drivers take these risks daily. The condition of the country’s roads only magnifies the danger. Nearly 40% are in poor or very poor condition, particularly in rural and hilly areas. Narrow, poorly lit roads without proper signage or guardrails make disaster inevitable.

Commercial vehicles add to the danger. Buses and three-wheelers often lack proper maintenance or undergo cosmetic ‘modifications’ that compromise safety. Some are not even roadworthy or are de-registered, yet they continue to operate freely. Inspections are lax, and unsafe vehicles are allowed to ply routes for years.

Meanwhile, the culture of impunity around traffic violations ensures that dangerous drivers are rarely held accountable. Too often, those with political or financial connections escape justice, even after fatal accidents. For bus drivers especially, the incentive system is flawed: the more trips completed, the more they earn, driving them to speed through congested roads with passengers’ lives in their hands.

Another alarming factor is the growing role of alcohol and drugs in road accidents. As nightlife culture expands and enforcement lags, impaired driving is becoming increasingly common, particularly among youth. The combination of reckless habits, failing infrastructure, poor enforcement, and cultural permissiveness has created lethal roads across the island.

The question is no longer what causes these tragedies, but why we continue to tolerate them. Road safety must be treated as a national priority, a public health emergency, and a moral responsibility. Enforcement must be overhauled with speed cameras, random breathalyzer tests, and digital surveillance to ensure that reckless drivers face consequences. Infrastructure investment cannot be delayed; rural and mountain roads need guardrails, signage, and lighting, while urban streets require pedestrian protections.

Public transport, instead of being a daily hazard, must be reformed. Commission-based incentives for drivers should end, and bus fleets must undergo rigorous and frequent fitness checks.

Equally important is public education. Road safety campaigns should be as consistent and visible as anti-smoking drives once were. Schools must integrate awareness into their curriculum, instilling respect for the road from a young age. A cultural shift is required, one that values responsibility over recklessness, caution over bravado.

Justice must also be swift and certain. Accident-related cases drag on in the courts for years, leaving victims’ families without closure or compensation. A fast-track system for such cases would restore faith in the law and serve as a deterrent to reckless drivers.

The Wellawaya crash is a devastating reminder of what is at stake. Fifteen lives, including those of innocent children, were extinguished in a moment of negligence. Families are mourning today, but unless the country acts, others will mourn tomorrow. These are not isolated tragedies; they are symptoms of systemic failure.

Sri Lanka must change course. We cannot continue to call these “accidents” when they are, in fact, predictable and preventable disasters. The responsibility lies not only with drivers but also with policymakers, law enforcement, transport authorities, and every citizen who uses the road. Every death is one too many. Every life lost on our roads is a failure we could have prevented.

Let the Wellawaya tragedy not fade into the background of statistics. Let it be the wake-up call that forces us to confront this crisis with the urgency it demands. Road safety is not a luxury; it is the most basic right of every Sri Lankan who steps onto a road. Until we recognize and act upon that truth, our nation will remain teetering on the cliff’s edge.

–ENCL

Soldiers and rescue workers stand by the debris of a passenger bus after it plunged into a precipice in Wellawaya, Sri Lanka on Friday (Sept. 5, 2025) -Prasanna Pathmasiri/AP

Editor_1
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