(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Twenty-three people die daily due to road traffic accidents and nearly 9000 fatalities are reported annually due to the same, Non Communicable Diseases Unit Director Dr. Thilak Siriwardana said.
Addressing a press conference held at the Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) in Colombo he said that majority of deaths are reported due to accidents.
Providing a resolution he added that the media, especially radio channels can play a leading role in preventing accidents.
Traffic Police Division Deputy Director ASP W.D.A. Dhananjaya said that annually around 3000 get killed due to road traffic accidents and one third of the total number of accidents related deaths occur due to road traffic accidents.
The low road discipline of Sri Lankan people is the main cause for road traffic accidents, he said.
By June 25 a total of 1459 individuals have been killed due to road traffic accidents. Annually 900 pedestrians die while attempting to cross the road.
Assistant Commissioner (Technical) of the Motor Traffic Department J.A.S.Jayaweera said that at the moment there are 7.1 million registered vehicles in Sri Lanka and 5.2 million of them run on roads.
The number of drivers can be similar. But the issue is 80 percent of them are not safe. Three wheels and motor bicycles are considered as unsafe vehicles. The people should be discouraged top buy those two types of vehicles.
