Ceylon Today Editorial

Helmetless riding encouraged

23 November 2016

An often heard surmise is that the cause for the increase in road accidents is not necessarily an increase in motor-vehicles, but due to indiscipline.

"Indiscipline" is a perceptible cancer running through the social fabric of this country. It's amazing that this is so, particularly in the context that this island boasts of a 2,500 years old civilization.
It's one of the oldest civilizations of this world; surpassed only by the Mohenjodaro-Harappa civilizations of India, the Yangtze Kiang-Hwang-Ho civilizations of China and other East Asian civilizations led by Japan and Korea, the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations of ancient Iraq, the Egyptian civilization and the Hebrew civilization.

All of these civilizations were concentrated in the East. Those were civilizations which were much older than the Graeco-Roman civilizations, the cradle of the Western civilization, which followed millennia later. The period when civilizations in the East flourished, as stated by President J.R. Jayewardene, those in the West were climbing trees (tree climbers!).

But, in the 21st century, at least as far as discipline is concerned, except perhaps for East Asia led by Japan and Korea; and Israel, the cradle of the Hebrew civilization, the rest of those countries which were cradles of ancient civilizations, countries like India, Iraq, Egypt and Sri Lanka, lag far behind.

They have been overtaken, by more than a mile, as far as the yardstick of discipline is concerned, by the 'tree climbers' of the West. A possible reason may be that those ancient countries which were the cradle of the civilizations of the world subsequently became colonies, though it may be difficult to find that unbroken thread linking 'indiscipline' in and of a country, because that country subsequently became a colony, by force of arms, by a more powerful country.

'Indiscipline' in dictatorships is dealt with by inflicting punitive punishment on the offender. In democratic countries, offenders are taken to task, within the norms and behaviours within which civilized societies and states operate.

Sri Lanka is a democratic country and its operations of law and order and the dispensation of justice is done within the democratic norms and behaviour of how a civilized society and a State functions.
It may not be wrong to say, that Sri Lanka, after its economy was liberalized in 1977, opened up new avenues of wealth to its peoples. Wealth brought in luxuries, not least a flood of motor vehicles into the country.

Road indiscipline, complemented by supply constraints in the form of lack of expansion of existing roads to cope with demand and the slowness of adding new roads and even highways to the country's existing road stock, complemented for the increasing number of road accidents, post-1977.

According to available statistics, the Police Department on its website reported that it detected 2.89 million traffic offences in 2011. The Department further said that the number of reckless and dangerous driving cases was 34,386; violation of road rules (94,520); failure to obey Police signals and directions (20,783); drunk or driving under drugs (30,117); speeding (34,866); driving without driving licence (DL) and allowing to drive without DL (146,836); without protective helmet (129,109); un-roadworthy vehicles (1,030) and belching vehicles (6,990).

It further said that the number of casualties due to road accidents in 2011 was 2,721. They comprised driver/rider (1,203); pedestrians (898); passenger/pillion rider (531); passenger falling off vehicle (45) and passenger on entering/leaving bus (44).

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in his recent budget speech is reported to have said, '...discipline on our roads has deteriorated significantly. In 2015 alone, almost 40,000 accidents had occurred in which 2,800 deaths have been recorded.....scant respect for road rules also results in congestion which gives rise to significant economic loss...' (Ceylon Today of 22 November, 2016).

That article further said that fines up to Rs 25,000 have been slapped on seven traffic offences. Those are overtaking from the left side, driving under influence of liquor, driving without insurance, driving over the speed limit, driving without a licence, driving carelessly near railway crossings and assigning someone without a valid licence to drive one's vehicle.
It's however, significant that 'riding without a protective helmet,' the second highest number of road violations recorded in 2011, i.e. a number of 129,109; has had apparently being glossed over by the authorities, by not subjecting such violators also to this enhanced fine.

Is this due to politics at the expense of lives and targeting the local government elections to be held in April the cause? Appeasing helmetless motorbike riders and/or their dependents/pillion riders; by bartering their lives for their vote. What perverse and perverted logic.