One death every 3 hours in Sri Lanka’s road accidents, data shows
COLOMBO – At least one person has died in 10 road accidents every three hours in Sri Lanka since 2016, official government data showed.
According to data released by the Police Motor Traffic Department, on average, eight people have died daily due to road accidents since 2016.
The data showed 20,728 people have been killed in road accidents in the seven-and-half year between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2023 in a total of 223,451 accidents.
The government is in the process of introducing a demerit points system for traffic offences and it expects to implement from January 1, 2024, State Transport Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna told a media briefing on Tuesday (25).
“Under this system, a driver who accumulates 24 demerit points will have his or her driving licence cancelled immediately,” the minister said.
“It is hoped that the Department of Motor Traffic and the National Council for Road Safety will jointly establish a new speed limit regulation and the gazette notification is being prepared.”
Sri Lanka’s motor traffic deaths since 2016 has been over 120 per 1 million inhabitants. This rate is far higher than the United States’ 13 and Japan’s 3, as per 2021 OECD data.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a 2022report said approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes and more than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
It also said road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product.
-economynext.com
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