Criminal drivers, innocent victims and law enforcement

On the 27th of this month (August), two school children  and the driver of the school van they were traveling in were killed. Over twelve others injured, many seriously, when their vehicle  was hit by a tipper truck  travelling at a high speed.  

The loaded tipper truck, according to sources, was apparently driven by an unlicensed driver. Photo coverage of the scene  of the accident brought to mind  some of the atrocities being committed by Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza  with bodies of little children scattered in the vicinity. 

A grim reminder of Israeli occupation forces targetting children, this accident also brought to mind memories of LTTE bombings of buses transporting villagers bordering the northern province. We can scarcely forget another accident in the heart of Borella at rush hour, where a vehicle transporting a heavy vehicle crashed into a number of vehicles stopped at the signal light.

The mother of the driver speaking to the press claimed her son had returned late the previous day and had insufficient rest, which probably caused the accident.

Our roads of our country, be they in the north, south east or west of the country have become virtual death traps to our people. According to the report published by the Non-Communicable Disease Unit of the Ministry of Health , ( In the National Injury Surveillance System), one of the leading causes of injury among inpatients at government hospitals were transport injury patients.

Statistics of the Ministry of Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation reveal in the year  2022 alone there were 70,538 road accidents in the country. Of them 2,395 were fatal accidents. The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police for Traffic Control and Road Safety said  nearly 2,000 people have lost their lives in fatal road accidents during the first six months of 2025. Source: SL Police/Sunday Times

According to the DIG, the primary causes of these accidents are unroadworthy vehicles and reckless driving. Sadly, the real reason why road accidents keep happening is caused by political and personal relationships  interfering with the strict  implementation of road rules. Both politicians and the public themselves are responsible for this sad situation.

For instance in the era shortly after the ethnic war’s end, friends and relations of the ruling elite were given ‘contracts’ to rebuild war-devastated towns and cities in the north. Heavy vehicles such as tippers and massive trucks drove with gay abandon along northern roads causing many mishaps. Political interference ensured drivers of these vehicles were not prosecuted. During an earlier era, a one-time president’s son owned a fleet of public long-distance buses. 

The drivers of those buses ruled the roads and waived the rules. They defied police attempts to bring them to book using the name of their vehicle owner. Sadly, no police personnel dared take action against these errant drivers. Victims of careless driving too, dared not seek compensation fearing political vengeance. 

Mid-level police officers too, played a role in keeping our roads unsafe. A number of them  hired their private vehicles to those involved in the tourist trade and continue protecting their drivers when laws are broken. 

Similarly, we the public too, played our own little roles in ensuring our roads were kept unsafe. Times without number ‘we the people’, too used contacts with those in power to ensure breaking road rules went unpunished. At times low ranking police officers were forced to backtrack, when high ranking officers or politicians ordered them to do so at the request of ‘friends’.

A study by ‘The Sunday Times’ showed three-wheelers  ranked second in causing most accidents. In 2023, 4,373 incidents involving three-wheelers were recorded, with 269 fatalities and over 3,000 injuries. In 2024, the figure slightly decreased to 4,319, but fatalities rose to 282. Injuries included 1,242 serious and 1,882 minor cases.

With so many precious lives being lost to road accidents, the present government is attempting to change this trend through the launch of its Go Safe Road Safety Action Plan. It has maintained it will crack down on all lawbreakers irrespective of rank or position.

If the government’s action of taking the immediate past president into custody is a precursor to show its resolve to crack down on crime, accidents like that  at Kuliyapitiya may soon hopefully be a rarity.