The Ministry of Public Security has taken steps to appoint a Committee of Experts to look into the increasing trend in road accidents and implement action to mitigate accidents.
“The committee was appointed to look into the causes of accidents and present recommendations on preventing accidents. The committee consists of IT specialists, police officers, and experts from various fields,” said Minister of Public Security, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera on Friday, April 16.
Whilst pointing out that close to 29,000 people died in total during the 30-year civil war in the country, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera emphasized that around 27,000 lives were lost due to road accidents in the last decade alone.
The Minister further noted that during the course of this year, around 540 people died due to road accidents, caused as a result of indisciplined driving and the lack of strict punishment.
According to Minister Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs has led to a hike in road accidents.
Moreover, the Minister said plans are in place to import special testing equipment to identify people driving under the influence of narcotic substances such as Heroin and Cannabis.
He said that several sets of testing equipment were already imported from Switzerland, Japan, and Germany to identify those who drive under the influence.
