Who ensures our buses are roadworthy?

20 May 2025 12:09 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 3 Bookmark

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Following the tragic Kotmale bus accident that claimed 22 lives and injured many more, the police have announced they will begin checking the running condition of buses on the road. While this may sound reassuring, it raises important questions about responsibility and capability.

Is it really the duty of the police to assess the roadworthiness of buses? Are they trained or equipped for such a technical task? The primary role of the police is to ensure that traffic laws are followed—speed limits obeyed, seatbelts worn, reckless driving penalised. Mechanical inspections, however, are a different matter altogether.

Can buses be properly assessed on the roadside, or will officers be visiting parking areas and garages? Even if so, how thorough and consistent can such inspections be?

Ensuring that buses—and all vehicles—on our roads are mechanically sound, is checking vehicles the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and the Department of Motor Traffic (or Registrar of Motor Vehicles)? There must be a system in place for routine, professional inspections by qualified technicians.

In the UK, for example, vehicles must undergo an annual MOT test (Ministry of Transport test) at certified garages. Only after passing checks on brakes, tyres, lights, and other vital systems can a vehicle be legally used on public roads.

Sri Lanka needs a similarly robust system. Let us not wait for more tragedies to highlight the gaps in enforcement and regulation. The lives lost in Kotmale must not be in vain.

Upali Weerasinghe

Comments - 3

Sarath Gooneratne Tuesday, 20 May 2025 09:27 AM

Yes, most of the bus accidents are due to; (1) Un roadworthy busses with defective suspension , brakes or other faults. (2) Drivers going at high speeds and carelessly. (3) Drivers falling asleep at the wheel or due to medical issus of the drivers. So, these have to be tackled and rectified separately. (a) A full check of the busses should bedone as done in the United Kingdom and this should be done by a Transport Ministry approved garage every year. (b) Police have to check that road rules are followed to the letter. That is the job of the Police. Fines for bad driving are outdated and have to be increased substancially so that it becomes uneconomical to drive carelessly. Say Rs. 100,000/ for high speed driving cutting double lines , wrong side driving etc; ( Senior Police officers need to be at check points to prevent corruption) (c) Finally a strict medical check up to see if the drivers are fit to drive. This will stop this ever increasing fatel accidents on our roads.

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Lankan Tuesday, 20 May 2025 03:30 PM

Firstly, are the roads road worthy ?

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M Fernando Wednesday, 21 May 2025 05:46 AM

We have a foolproof method to find out. Once it goes off the road or crashes, it is not roadworthy.

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