Sri Lanka Police recorded 42 road accidents and 44 fatalities across the country between April 10 and 15, the peak of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year travel window, the force said on Thursday.
Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Traffic Control and Road Safety, W. P. J. Senadheera, said 19 accidents and 19 deaths occurred on the three main festival days of April 13, 14 and 15 alone.
Motorcycles the most common vehicle
Motorcycles were involved in 16 of the crashes, by far the largest category. The remainder covered three-wheelers (4), vans (4), cars (2), cabs (2), bicycles (2) and a pedestrian hit-and-run.
DIG Senadheera cited drunk driving as the primary cause, urging motorists to exercise caution during festive travel. Police noted that during the equivalent 2025 holiday window, 25 accidents and 26 deaths were reported.
Adds to broader toll
The latest figures push the combined Avurudu-period toll higher than Transport Minister Bimal Ratnayake’s earlier tally, which reported 49 road deaths in the week ending April 10 — taking the full two-week Avurudu casualty count to well above 90 across both counts.
Officials had anticipated a surge in risk given the massive return-to-home travel wave and the hundreds of thousands of extra journeys on expressways and provincial roads. Police deployed intensified CCTV surveillance on expressways and opened a WhatsApp reporting line for reckless driving, while hospitals admitted more than 29,000 patients for holiday-related injuries and illnesses.
