Sri Lanka Police will introduce on-site drug testing kits within two to three months, Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya has said, describing driving under the influence of narcotics as now the most frequently observed cause of severe road accidents.
“While drunk driving was previously the primary focus of law enforcement, driving under the influence of narcotics is now the most frequently observed cause of severe accidents,” the IGP said, according to the Daily Mirror. He cited a crash in Mattakkuliya last week in which the driver tested positive.
A recent pilot operation on buses in and around Colombo found that more than 5 percent of bus drivers were driving under the influence of narcotics.
Why the kits matter
The gap the kits are meant to close is a practical one. An officer can detect alcohol at the roadside; suspected drug use currently cannot be confirmed without taking the driver to a doctor.
“To confirm driving under the influence of narcotics, we must present the individual to a medical doctor and conduct a test. For that, as an alternative for the police in the future, we are taking steps to purchase the necessary testing kits,” Weerasuriya said.
In the meantime, police have made drug testing mandatory for drivers involved in serious accidents. That is an after-the-fact measure — it establishes what happened rather than stopping a driver before a crash, which is what a roadside kit would allow.
The numbers behind the announcement
The IGP repeated a comparison he has used before: at the height of the civil war an average of around four people died per day on both sides combined, while between seven and ten people now die every day on the roads.
Sri Lanka recorded 2,549 fatal accidents in 2025, along with 7,830 causing serious injury, more than 11,151 causing minor injury and nearly 5,900 involving property damage. So far in 2026 there have been 1,849 fatal accidents — eight more than the same period last year, with 16 more deaths.
Pedestrians remain the most vulnerable group, many killed while standing at the roadside. Motorcyclists are second, and the IGP said a growing share are dying after hitting roadside obstacles rather than colliding with other vehicles. Pillion riders and cyclists recorded 199 and 195 deaths respectively in the period reviewed, and three-wheelers were involved in 3,515 accidents.
Where this fits
The figures are the same set the IGP gave last week, when police identified 712 accident-prone locations in a nationwide survey. The new element is enforcement capability.
It also sharpens the position he took then. Weerasuriya argued last week that road discipline “cannot be instilled solely by fining drivers” and should be taught in school textbooks. Buying testing kits is the enforcement half of the same programme — and the bus pilot result suggests why: a rate above 5 percent among drivers carrying passengers is not something education alone reaches quickly.
The IGP did not say how many kits will be bought, what they cost, which narcotics they detect, or whether a positive roadside result will be admissible in court without a confirmatory medical test.
