Addressing the “Safe Roads – Safe Children” International Road Safety Conference-2023, Prof. Samath Dharmaratne, Chairman of the Expert Committee to Prevent Road Accidents said that a troubling global statistic, revealing that a road accident leads to a fatality every 42 seconds worldwide. In 2023, 115 children have tragically lost their lives as a result of road accidents in Sri Lanka. He noted that young individuals between the ages of 15 and 44, who form the workforce critical for the country’s development, are often the victims of these accidents, either losing their lives or facing disabilities, stated the President’s Media Division.
However, he also pointed out that high-income countries have relatively lower rates of disability and death due to road accidents compared to other nations.
He further revealed that, on average, approximately 3,000 individuals lose their lives in road accidents in Sri Lanka each year and this concerning trend appears to be on the rise.
Addressing the event Sagala Ratnayaka, the Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, announced that the President will swiftly establish a high-level committee dedicated to the prevention and management of road accidents and their associated fatalities and disabilities.
“Safe Roads – Safe Children” International Road Safety Conference-2023 was organized by the Expert Committee for Road Accident Prevention of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) and primarily aimed to mitigate avoidable child fatalities and lifelong disabilities resulting from road accidents. The discussions at the conference covered various aspects such as education, healthcare, transportation and law enforcement in relation to road safety.
