Soon driving licence applicants would have to undergo training on a simulator before taking the permanent driving licence test, National Council for Road Safety Chairman Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said yesterday.
Underlining the fact that a large number of accidents are a result of unskilled drivers getting behind the wheel, Dr. Kodagoda said that therefore the use of technology such as simulators which give the real-time feel of driving is important for effective training before issuing licences to applicants.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Electronic Technical Training Centre for drivers at the Council premises. The Centre has been equipped with three simulators costing Rs.15 million donated by N.T.K Co. Ltd of Japan.
Speaking of the urgency to ensure road safety in the country, he said a person dies in a road accident every three hours and around 15 to 20 persons are injured in Sri Lanka every day. Deaths totalled 2,481 in 2,590 reported road traffic accidents during the period from January to October this year.
Every day, around 500 schoolchildren die in road accidents worldwide. Two-thirds of road accidents have been caused by motorcycles in the last few years, he said.
However, there was a reduction in the number of road accidents caused by motorcycles last year due to increased fines and other stern action taken by Traffic Police as well as the awareness programmes conducted countrywide by the Council.
Nevertheless, passenger-related fatalities showed a considerable increase last year, Dr. Kodagoda said.
Dr. Kodagoda said the WHO also estimates that road traffic fatalities will be the fifth leading cause of death by 2030. “In fact, it’s such a big problem that the UN feels it needs an entire decade to fix it,” he said.
In 2011, the UN launched a ‘Decade of Action’ that aims to “stabilise and then reduce” global road traffic fatalities by 50 percent by 2030.
If things go as planned, we can also ask the driving schools to install the same system for vehicle learners as simulators,” he said.
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