Sri Lanka Police filed 271,890 cases over safety helmet violations in the first seven months of this year, pointing to persistent non-compliance among motorcycle riders.
The cases were recorded between January 1 and July 31, said Senior Superintendent of Police Manoj Ranagala, Director of the Road Safety, Traffic and Control Division. Police filed 349,823 such cases across the whole of 2025.
Ranagala was speaking at a media briefing held on Friday at the Ministry of Transport auditorium in Colombo. He urged motorcyclists to wear helmets to protect their own lives, rather than simply to avoid police action or penalties.
The death toll behind the enforcement
Ranagala said 749 people died in motorcycle accidents between January 1 and July 31 this year, among them 13 people under the age of 18.
Sri Lanka recorded 1,626 road accidents in the first seven months of 2026, he said, compared with 1,585 in the same period last year.
Manjula Kularatne, Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, said more than 2,500 people die in road accidents in Sri Lanka each year, with over 1,000 of those deaths linked to motorcycle accidents. Fatal head injuries are among the leading causes of death in such crashes, he said, and riders should use standardised, SLS-certified helmets.
A two-year action plan
Kularatne said the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development has launched a two-year Road Safety Action Plan built around 96 measures, of which 30 have been implemented so far.
He added that the Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Sri Lanka Police and the Consumer Affairs Authority are running a joint programme, including raids, to ensure helmets on sale meet the required safety standards.
That enforcement drive has been under way for several weeks. The Consumer Affairs Authority seized 431 uncertified helmets in islandwide raids in late July and blocked the sale of thousands more.
CAA Chairman Hemantha Samarakoon and Director Asela Bandara also took part in Friday’s briefing.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
