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Low quality products cost us our time, money and lives
Reports say that the terrible bus accident at Ella which claimed so many lives is the result of a brake failure. The conductor was heard yelling ‘no brakes, lie down’ just before the bus went off the road.
The equally terrible bus accident at Passara which preceded this too, was caused in probability by brake or some other technical failure, though the SLTB ruled that out. It doesn’t have professional crash investigators, so this conclusion is not definitive. The crane accident near the general cemetary which caused such havoc, too, was caused by brake failure. This leads to the question: Why are brake failures so common?
Vehicle maintenance has become shoddy due to astronomical costs. This is not an excuse, especially when it comes to commercial vehicles such as buses, lorries and cranes. But it is certainly a major contributing factor. I have been told by several vehicle owners that the quality of imported brake oil too, is not as good as before. I have no way of confirming this. But I can remember instances when the quality of imported petrol was questionable, causing engine trouble and headaches to vehicle owners, and that was long before the economic crash.
Going by the same logic, it wouldn’t surprise me if the quality of brake oil too, has gone down. The quality of so many items has gone down. I recently purchased a can opener for Rs. 300, but couldn’t open a can of sardines with it and had to use a knife.
I bought a re-chargeable flashlight for Rs. 500 but, it refused to charge after a couple of charges. There is a well proven liquid solution widely used to get rid of dog ticks. Earlier, one application was effective to keep ticks away for about three months. Now, it’s barely effective for a week. Moreover, it’s often very hard to open the metal lid. It normally opens after a firm twist, but now a knife or a pair of scissors are often needed to break it open.
Talking of scissors, I bought a pair of small scissors for Rs. 100 and it wouldn’t cut anything after being used twice.
But loss of vehicle brakes is frightening since most of us use public transport.
Susil Ranasinghe
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