Last week a historical judgement was given by Negombo Chief Magistrate Champika Rajapaksa imposing a lifetime driving ban on a drunk driver who killed a woman by running over her while driving his van in December 2021 with drunken friends. The driving licence of this drunk driver who was a 19-year-old youth was banned for life. The fine imposed on him was Rs. 199,000 and he was ordered to pay Rs. 200,000 to the husband and parents of the dead woman. We, all citizens of Mother Lanka should hail this historical judgement. We should hail our judiciary.
According to the incident which happened in December in 2021, this drunk driver who was a 19-year-old school leaver had driven his van with another group of drunk friends and ran over the woman at Thaladuwa junction in Negombo while she was trying to cross the road. Then he fled the scene with his friends. A motor cycle rider who saw the incident complained to the Police and the Police arrested the criminal and his van.
Lack of road discipline
This judgement is historical because incidents of this kind are very common here in Sri Lanka and another incident reported last week where a female school teacher who does not have a valid driving licence hit a school child breaking his limbs. A few weeks ago another woman ran over a boy who was walking on the pavement killing him on the spot. These are not the first or the last such ‘accidents’ reported from Sri Lanka. On the other hand such incidents cannot be named as accidents because they are crimes executed with a consciousness knowing all the relevant facts very well.
If the readers remember, there were children who drove their rich parents’ vehicles and killed people on several occasions. Justice was not done to the families. There were thousands of similar cases reported from the country during the past few decades where underage and drunken individuals killed people while driving various vehicles in a careless manner. After committing those crimes, all of them acted like nothing happened.
In the year 2021, there were 2,414 fatal road accidents in the country. The death toll was 2,513. A total of 6,401 people were seriously injured in the accidents, leaving some of them permanently disabled. The total number of road accidents reported in 2021 was 22,319. The estimated annual road crash deaths per capita in Sri Lanka are twice the average rate in high-income countries and five times that of the best performing countries in the world. Available data indicates an average of 38,000 crashes annually which result in around 3,000 fatalities and 8,000 serious injuries.
Some time ago it was reported in the media that every minute, eight Sri Lankans need to seek medical treatment for injuries caused by an accident while one dies in an accident every hour and 27 persons die from accidents in a day. Annually, around 10,000 people die from accidents in Sri Lanka. Every hour 450 Sri Lankans seek medical treatment for an injury caused by an accident while 11,000 seek medical treatment for the same on a daily basis. Annually, four million Sri Lankans seek medical treatment for an injury caused by an accident. The tenth place of the hospital deaths are due to accidents.
Economic impact
According to local Consultants, the majority of road accident victims are in the productive age between 15 and 40 years. The majority of road accident victims become permanently disabled. This has a significant negative impact on the country's economy.
It seems here in Sri Lanka that rarely is justice done to the victims of drunk drivers and the victims of individuals who drive without a valid driving licence who die on public roads or become permanently disabled. There is no one or no institution here in Sri Lanka to worry about them or their future. Only their family members have to suffer for the rest of their lives without the breadwinner of their family or with a permanently disabled breadwinner of the family.
Those drunk drivers who have connections together with individuals who drive without a valid licence freely drive along public roads after running over more than one person. They just pay a fine, are imprisoned for a very short time or get away without any punishment at all by producing someone else to replace him/her. Most of the time we, the ordinary people can very clearly see that they are very powerful while the poor accident victims are powerless. This is why they walk along the roads with no care at all.
The latest judgement given last week in connection with an incident where a drunk driver ran over and killed a woman shows the entire country that Sri Lanka has adequate laws to address this issue and the only requirement is implementing the already available law adequately. But, unfortunately it did not happen until last week. It will be very interesting to find out why this law was not used in the past to offer justice to the innocent poor people.
It is the Police who handle the situation whenever an accident occurs. It is the responsibility of the Police to record the incident accurately without being biased towards the powerful individuals who drive and kill people under the influence of alcohol and without a valid driving licence. But this does not happen all the time. The culprits often get the help of their VVIP contacts soon after the accident. The innocent poor victims suffer for the rest of their lives if they are lucky enough to live.
The other most pathetic situation is the behaviour of the public. Sri Lankan people should not expect that the people will transport them to the nearest hospital as soon as possible when a speeding vehicle hits them while walking along public roads. This is only a dream because transporting the victim to the hospital is the last thing to happen whenever an accident happens at any time anywhere in the country. Most people are a selfish lot.
First of all, when an accident takes place, the people video record the victim's suffering for hours. Posting the heart-aching visuals on their Facebook is more important for them than saving the life of the innocent poor child, mother, father, brother or sister of someone out there.
The law needs to be amended in order to include relevant parts that cover the entire crime including the individuals who waste time without transporting the victim to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. CCTV footage or the visuals posted on social media can be used to track down ignorant individuals (onlookers) who video record accident victims’ agony and punish them.
Golden Hour
This is essential because ‘The Golden Hour’ matters a lot. The Golden Hour refers to the period of time following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical and surgical treatment will prevent death. While initially defined as an hour the exact time period depends on the nature of the injury and can be more than or less than this duration. It is well established that the person's chances of survival is more if they receive care within a short period of time after a severe injury.
The first hour of the accident is called the ‘Golden Hour’ due to the importance of it to save the life of the victim. The first ten minutes of the first hour is the most crucial time period when it comes to saving the life of the accident victim. About 50 percent of accident deaths can be cut down if required medical care can be given to the accident victim during this time.
At the end it is the responsibility of the innocent poor ordinary people of this country to safeguard their own lives and use public roads with consciousness. They should keep in mind all the time that there are plenty of two legged beasts driving along public roads all the time under the influence of alcohol and without a valid driving licence.
When considering the pathetic situation of the country, it is advisable to avoid using roads at night except for something essential. Walking along public roads at night is very risky and dangerous. Planning the day's activities properly enables people to reduce using public roads at night and during rush hours. We should not rush when using public roads, especially when crossing roads because drunk drivers and the drivers who do not have a valid driving licence do not stop their vehicles at road crossings.
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