8 October 2023 01:05 pm
A Russian tourist claimed that travelling on public transport in Sri Lanka is very dangerous to their lives as they travel at high speeds.
Her experience was lodged as a complaint to the tourist police in Polonnaruwa.
She did not reveal her identity but said that she had come to Polonnaruwa from Colombo by bus to see the beauty of the country.
There she explained her bad experience on her way to Polonnaruwa.
"The bus was travelling at 95Kmph and sometimes exceeded 100kmph on the main road. I recorded the speed using my google map application. The bus was driving at 100kmph most of the time. I told the driver to slow down and get us safely to Polonnaruwa. But he did not talk or listen to us. When we talked to him the speed was around 70, 75 and 80 Kmph. The bus was like flying and overtook other vehicles recklessly by bending the bus sideways.
"It is very dangerous to our lives. We don't want to die, we are just tourists and we want to see Sri Lanka. I was very scared and cried in the bus, I even talked to my mom and told that the buses in Sri Lanka drive while risking peoples' lives.
"Now I need to go to Kandy and I need a bus with a normal driver who can take us to Kandy safely, not at a 100Kmph speed. I don't want a crazy guy," the female tourist claimed.
She requested those in authority to apply rules imposing speed limits for buses to drive in town areas and outside the towns and not to exceed 60Kmph.
"Everytime I get on to buses I pray to god to keep me safe and alive till the end of the journey. We risking our lives every time we get on to a bus. People in Sri Lanka know that. Is is not safe.
"In Sri Lanka it is very dangerous to travel on buses. It is hard to find even the train schedules," she said. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)