Fatal road accidents have claimed 1,749 lives in Sri Lanka since the start of the year, Deputy Inspector General of Police W.P.J. Senadheera said on Friday.
Senadheera, who heads the Traffic Control and Road Safety Range, said 1,654 fatal accidents had been recorded as of Thursday, August 20.
Who is dying
The DIG gave a breakdown of the 1,749 deaths:
- 617 motorcyclists
- 576 pedestrians
- 173 passengers
- 139 drivers
- 122 pillion riders
- 119 cyclists
Those categories total 1,746; Ada Derana did not say how the remaining three deaths were classified.
Motorcyclists, pillion riders, cyclists and pedestrians together account for 1,434 of the deaths — roughly 82 percent. The people most exposed on Sri Lanka’s roads are those least protected by the vehicle they are travelling in, or not in one at all.
The wider injury toll
Beyond the deaths, 4,556 people were hospitalised after major road accidents and 7,295 received treatment for injuries from minor accidents, Senadheera said. A further 3,232 accidents involving property damage were reported over the same period.
New rules coming
The figures were released the same day Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake set out a package of road safety measures, including a seat belt requirement for all expressway occupants from September 19, a 10-day training programme for public passenger transport drivers, and mobile drug testing.
Rathnayake said measures were also being introduced specifically for motorcyclists, who he noted account for the highest number of road deaths — a point the police figures bear out. Those include promoting SLS-certified helmets and, in future, dedicated motorcycle lanes.
Road deaths remain a persistent public health problem in Sri Lanka. Fatal crashes on the country’s roads have repeatedly drawn police warnings this year, including after a tractor-tipper collision in Kumbukkana that killed five people carrying pilgrims.
