Making our roads safer for all

• National Accident Prevention Awareness Week will be held until 8 July

Travelling on Sri Lanka’s roads, whether as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian, is a risky affair, especially given the low level of road discipline in the country and the rather high number of road accidents. Considering this, a National Accident Prevention Awareness Week is held annually, with its seventh chapter kicking off yesterday (4 July), to be held until 8 July.

According to the Health Ministry, the awareness programme began in 2016, with a national day to educate the public about road accidents and what steps can be taken to prevent them. Extending this, National Accident Prevention Awareness Week is held during the first week of July, from Monday to Friday.

Sri Lanka Police Traffic and Road Safety Deputy Inspector General Indika Hapugoda said that 1,440 persons have died of 1,370 fatal road accidents that occurred between 1 January and 27 June this year. He said that lifelong paralysis can also occur as a result of serious road accidents, adding: “Light injuries result from 38% of road accidents, and vehicle damage results from 20% of road accidents.”

He went on to say that motorcycle riders are most likely to meet with, and even die of, road accidents, while the second group mostly likely to be affected are pedestrians.

The Sri Lanka Police lists 25 reasons for road accidents. These include recklessness and negligence of the driver, indiscipline driving, lack of knowledge, road, weather or vehicle conditions, human error, fatigue or stress, as well as road infrastructure defects, failure of pedestrians to follow rules, and unsatisfactory enforcement by some Police officers.

Meanwhile, the Injury Prevention and Control Unit of the Health Ministry’s Directorate of Non-Communicable Diseases Head Dr. Samitha Siritunga said that, of admissions for in-house treatment at State hospitals, the largest number are those who sustain injuries from accidents. Despite a drop in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this number is usually 1.3 million a year.

This accounts for one-fifth to one-sixth of all admissions for in-house treatment, Dr. Siritunga said, adding: “If accidents continue to increase, we have estimated that by 2025 this number will increase by 250,000 to 1.5 million admissions for in-house treatment.”

He went on to say that data shows that roughly 12,000 persons die of accidents each year, the bulk of which are due to road accidents.

The primary health concern as well as main reason for hospital admissions and death of persons between 15 and 45 years is seen as accidents, which has a social and economic impact or cost as well.

Dr. Siritunga added that the general belief, both locally and globally, is that the number of accidents can be reduced.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 30 June announced that it welcomed the political declaration adopted by Member States to cut road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030; a milestone for road safety and sustainable mobility.

“Road safety affects everyone. We step from our homes every day onto roads that take us to our jobs, schools and to meet our vital daily needs. Yet our transport systems remain far too dangerous. No death should be acceptable on our roads. The future of mobility should promote health and well-being, protect the environment and benefit all,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

He added that this will require transformative leadership from the highest levels of government to act on the political declaration to make that vision a reality.

According to WHO, 1.3 million people are killed each year due to road crashes globally. That is more than two deaths every minute. Of this, 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries. They add that road crashes are the biggest killer of children and young people globally.