Road safety has become an issue of national concern, considering its magnitude and gravity and the consequent negative impacts on the economy, public health and the general welfare of the people. Today, road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of deaths, disabilities and hospitalizations, with severe socio-economic costs, across the country.
Last year 39,000 road accidents resulted in 3117 deaths. Nearly half of these accidents involved motor cycles and three wheelers. The three most vulnerable groups who died due to these accidents were, motor cycle riders and pillion riders (1250), pedestrians (877) and three-wheeler drivers (370). These three groups accounted for 80% of the total number of road accident deaths.
Most of the road accident victims were between 15 – 40 years old - their most productive earning years. The costs and consequences of these losses are significant. The World Bank estimates that road traffic injuries cost 1 percent to 2 percent of the gross national product (GNP) of developing countries, or twice the total amount of development aid received worldwide by developing countries.
These are devastating statistics which indicate to us that road travel in Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly hazardous.
However, it is nothing to be surprised. We have 3.8 million motor cycles and 1.1 million three wheelers. Totally, we have 7 million registered vehicles in the country out of which minimum 6 million may be plying daily on our roads. The capacity and quality of our road network is definitely inadequate to safely accommodate this high volume of mixed traffic.
Causes of injury
The majority of our road accidents are caused by human error. This may include bad driving habits, distracted driving, drowsy driving, excess speeding, drunk driving, running red lights or stop signs, tailgating, unsafe lane changes, improper turns, road rage and number of others. Other than human errors, there can be many other causes including environmental or climatic issues, defects of vehicles or the uneven or badly maintained roads.
There is no doubt that building expressways, highways and major road links will contribute in a significant way to our country’s economic development. But on the flip side of this “development,” we will experience more road accidents resulting in injury or fatality, loss of man power, loss of productivity, high medical expenses, costly management and property damage which are estimated to bear a very high cost. It is like crossing the Rubicon. We have to continue with the planned road development while keeping road fatalities to the minimum level.
Profile of problem
Most of the road traffic accidents are predictable and preventable, but good data are important to understand the ways in which road safety interventions and technology can be successfully transferred from developed countries where they have proven effective. Unfortunately, the awareness of the consequences of road traffic accidents is lagging among Sri Lankan policymakers and the general public.
Therefore, what we really need today, as a priority, is the incorporation of a comprehensive road safety programme into a National Plan for Reduction of Road Accidents. The objective of the plan should be to understand the challenges we are facing, and formulate short and long-term measures to be implemented during the plan period. The period of the plan could be around 10 years.
However, within that period, interim targets could be assigned to keep track of the progress. For example, setting x percentage of fatalities and y percentage of severe accidents both per one million population every 3rd year of the National Transport Plan.
This should imply gradually reducing the average of deaths and injuries for the period 2018–2028. The Plan of Action should also include indicator targets for road user behaviour, the stock of vehicles and the road network. These are variables that indirectly describe the development of traffic safety.
In developed countries, road traffic death rates have decreased since the 1980s because of successful interventions such as National Plans, introduction of safety laws, enforcement of reckless driving, warnings about the dangers of mixing alcohol consumption with driving, and safer design and use of roads and vehicles. For example, in USA, the number of deaths per year decreased by an average 15% and number of fatalities per 100 million reduced from 2.47 in 1985 to 1.73 in 1995 to 1.12 in 2015.
Prevention interventions
Today most developed countries are adhering to the advice given by the World Bank and the World Health Organization, by adapting what is known as, a “safe systems approach” to road traffic safety.
This method emphasizes involvement at all levels of the road traffic system - from road providers and enforcers (vehicle sellers, road traffic planners, road safety engineers, police, educators, health professionals, and insurers) to road users. The Safe System design model has four main elements plus supporting activities that can be adjusted and applied in agreement with the four main elements to assist in making fatal accidents to be reduced.
The four main design elements are:
Safe roads and roadsides – they are designed to encourage safe driving and help avoid errors.
Safe speeds – travel speeds that suit the function and level of safety of the road. People understand and comply with the speed limits and drive to the conditions.
Safe vehicles – that prevent crashes and protect road users, including occupants, pedestrians and cyclists, in the event of a crash.
Safe road users – road users that are alert and unimpaired, and who comply with road rules. They take steps to improve safety, and demand and expect safety improvements.
The key supporting Safe System elements include: emergency medical management for post-accident care; understanding of accidents on the network, which requires good data to enable risks across sections of the network to be accurately identified; control of admittance (entry and exit) of drivers to/from the road transport system); effective legislation and systems, enforcement and justice system support; educating and informing the public.
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