H Wirasinha, Sri Lanka: I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I read about DIG Ranaweera and his 800 strong grand success ! Pray where was this DIG, his predecessors and their redoubtable constabulary with their cellular phones and motorcycles all these years ? ` Any driver on the Colombo-Kandy and Colombo Kurunegala Roads knows with what impunity bus drivers and their conductors flout all laws of decency, leave alone the high way code,- intimidating other road users, with blaring horns, reckless overtaking and cutting in and out of traffic with gay abandon. Thirty five people had to be massacred before the DIG woke up and brought out his cellular phones and motorcycles. How long will they remain ? - Thu May 5 09:49:31 EDT 2005


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Advocatus diaboli

R Gnanaratnam, USA: S/L POLICE CHARGE 800 TRAFFIC VIOLATORS IN A SINGLE Day . !! I join H weerasinghe's comments wholeheartedly. Is this continuing or was it put on for another one day 'road show'.DIG Ranasinghe I hope you and your men are still awake.See that your men are not bribed so that these culprits do not continue with this speed and murder scenario. Thankyou R Gnanaratnam USA - Fri May 20 09:50:52 EDT 2005


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Advocatus diaboli

Nalaka's article here - http://www.theacademic.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21 - sheds a different light on this and makes for some very interesting reading.

In my openion, Sri Lanka does not have land mass to build a road network to with at least two lanes eachway and curb-side parking etc for all available vehicles to use in an orderly manner.  Under gound or overhead may be the naswer but costwise, it is prohibitive for the economy at this stage.

We are going to have all these irresponsible driving until that basic problem is solved.

Rasika Suriyaarachchi

I travelled by bus for several years in sri lanka. When a private bus is stopped by a traffic cop and the driving licence and registration book demanded, the driver encloses a folded 50 or 100 rupee note in one of these documents before handing over - this is seen by those seated immediately behind the driver. It is also common knowledge that most private buses are owned by policemen by proxy, their relatives and friends. This is why they get away with traffic violations. Also most private buses carry bogus certificates of roadworthiness from ill equipped garages - and are death traps for the unwary. Most private bus drivers are those condemned as unfit to drive by the National Transport Medical Institute during employment in the SLCTB - they are hired for low wages by private bus owners. No bus driver is produced by police at the NTMI for examination for Fitness to Drive even after fatal accidents - as required by regulations - which the police are aware of - mainly for above reasons. So far no magistrate has instructed the police to do so - merely because he carries
a 'valid driving licence' and no magistrate has ordered an examination of buses/other vehicles involved even in fatal accidents for Certificates of Roadworthiness/Examination for Mechanical Faults,  from reputed garages. All this amounts to miscarriage of justice - the person knocked down or his relatives cannot sue the driver/owner concerned or claim additional benefits from insurance!! So, the transport industry runs on corruption - aided by the judiciary!!! The politicians whisked at speed through stalled traffic in air conditioned limousines are unaware of this OR couldnt care a damn!!!

I forgot to mention that most drivers involved in accidents - especially fatal ones - are rarely subjected to a breathalyser test, for which every traffic cop or those of higher rank in police vehicles should carry the kit with them while on duty - or, produce the driver(s) without delay before the nearest government medical officer or a provincial medical officer empowered by the NTMI - this almost never happens. In traffic courts, the magistrate rarely queries whether a breathalyser test was done - the lawyers too ignore this. Almost all drivers - state and private - driving buses and private cars with impaired distant vision - who obtained their driving licenses on condition that they should wear glasses, NEVER do so. This contributes to accidents. The traffic cop on the scene of an accident, will know by perusal of the licence whether the driver was required to wear glasses - but he  almost never queries or does not note down whether he/she wears glasses, and state this during court proceedings. "IMPAIRED" (being unfit to drive due to physical/mental infirmity such as defective vision or mental illness) driving is a serious offense in all developed countries.
During rush hours, the private bus owners pay the state bus drivers to 'go slow' so that they can pick up extra passengers. Sometimes the latter refuse, leading to altercations and fracas - as state bus drivers, after a certain daily quota for the route is fulfilled, get an 'incentive allowance' for carrying extra passengers.

Rasika, Sri Lanka has the land mass to build sufficiently wide roads. But with our greediness for land almost every inch of land in SL is owned by private individuals.
In addition the Govt has no policy to acquire land for future (next 5 yr, 10yr and 25 yr so on) road widening projects. In other countries where good road network is available most of the land along transport corridors belong to Govt.
To begin this people should think of living in high rise residential buildings (atleast in cities) so that land can be made available for roads, railways and recreational facilities.

lankaputhra wrote:

Rasika, Sri Lanka has the land mass to build sufficiently wide roads. But with our greediness for land almost every inch of land in SL is owned by private individuals.
In addition the Govt has no policy to acquire land for future (next 5 yr, 10yr and 25 yr so on) road widening projects. In other countries where good road network is available most of the land along transport corridors belong to Govt.
To begin this people should think of living in high rise residential buildings (atleast in cities) so that land can be made available for roads, railways and recreational facilities.

Don't see much of a point in having sufficiently wide roads when motorists can't stick to a lane and drive sensibly. There's no descipline. No descipline because no law enforcement. No law enforcement because of corruption. Corruption because of low salary. Low salary because money and resources are wasted on handful of politician and on their favored.

harin wrote:

lankaputhra wrote:

Rasika, Sri Lanka has the land mass to build sufficiently wide roads. But with our greediness for land almost every inch of land in SL is owned by private individuals.
In addition the Govt has no policy to acquire land for future (next 5 yr, 10yr and 25 yr so on) road widening projects. In other countries where good road network is available most of the land along transport corridors belong to Govt.
To begin this people should think of living in high rise residential buildings (atleast in cities) so that land can be made available for roads, railways and recreational facilities.

Don't see much of a point in having sufficiently wide roads when motorists can't stick to a lane and drive sensibly. There's no descipline. No descipline because no law enforcement. No law enforcement because of corruption. Corruption because of low salary. Low salary because money and resources are wasted on handful of politician and on their favored.

I would agree with the above. There is obviously an issue with the roads in Colombo not being able to bear the traffic that has grown. But the real issue is the lack of discipline in driving and it goes un-punished by the traffic cops. Yes, there is widespread corruption; and the blame also lies with the general public who are happy to entice with 'santosha' and the higher-ups who turn a blind-eye. We need to instill values of justice from the beginning.


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More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars - FDR