INVOLVING MINOR DRIVERS :NCRS

Parents should be held responsible for their children’s action, duty to not to allow underage children to drive vehicles

The parents, rather than police officers, could prevent the sudden increase in accidents involving vehicles driven by minors, if enough attention could be paid to their children, the National Council for Road Safety (NCRS) said yesterday.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, its Chairman Dr. Sisira Kodagoda said media reports that NCRS was to take legal action on parents who allowed their children to drive was false.

He said there was a rise in vehicle accidents involving minors as drivers across the country. He said that the NCRS had identified as parents’ lack of attention influenced such tragic incidents.

“The NCRS cannot prevent such action. Even though we impose legal barriers against parents after accident it does not make any change. We should encourage parents to pay more attention to their children,” he said.

He said parents should be held responsible for their children’s action and it was their duty to not to allow underage children to drive vehicles.

Meanwhile, he said if parents could educate their children at least on upcoming World Children’s Day about the danger of the underage driving and prevents them from such acts, it could be a great contribution towards preventing such accidents. There was a rise in vehicle accidents involving minors as drivers across the country...the NCRS had identified as parents’ lack of attention influenced such tragic incidents