Hitting the Expressway? Stick to rules and stay alive

Eighteen months after Sri Lanka’s first highway came into operation in the South, motorist are yet to come to grips on how to ply it-- officials Failure to wear seat belts, speeding and lack of lane discipline among main reasons for accidents

Forty-three-year old businessman Shanaka Akmeemana from Maharagma and his family decided to take the Southern Expressway to head to his village in Tangalle for the April SinhalaHindu New Year holidays.

Half way through the journey the businessman had apparently decided to pick up speed to reach his destination earlier. This however turned out to be a fateful decision for him.

“I was in the front seat of the jeep. My husband said he was increasing the speed,” the businessman’s wife Samantha Gunailake told an inquiry into the death of her husband.

“As my husband accelerated, the vehicle spun and hit the protective railing on the side of the road and then turned turtle,” she said.

Video footage picked up by surveillance cameras show that the businessman didn’t have his seat belt on at the time of the impact and his head is seen hitting the surface of the road as the vehicle turned turtle three times.

Inquirer into sudden deaths Sumeda Gunawardana held that the accident was caused due to speeding and subsequent skidding.

In late April a private van driver returning after dropping a passenger at the Bandaranaike International Airport went off the Expressway crashing into a road below, killing two passengers and injuring himself and another passenger. The driver told the Police that

he lost

control of the vehicle and could not remember anything following that. His statement has raised questions whether he had fallen asleep on the wheel.

Piyasena Rubasinghe (77) and his wife Chandra Rubasinghe (60) were killed in the accident. Mr. Rubasinghe was the brother of former Director of the In- formation Department Ariya Rubasinghe.

A Police officer told the Sunday Times that just before the crash the driver was seen washing his face leading to the belief that he would have done so to prevent himself falling asleep.

Last week, four people were injured in two separate accidents on the Expressway while six vehicles were damaged in other incidents.

In one a group travelling in a car hit a side railing and the vehicle had turned turtle between Kurundugahahethakma and Baddegama. A Navy officer travelling in the same direction had slowed down his vehicle on seeing the toppled vehicle and his vehicle was hit by another vehicle of a Customs officer.

In a similar accident on the opposite side of the road a van had crashed into the side railing and another van that slowed down to get a better view of the scene, was hit by a cab in the rear causing damage to both vehicles.

Eighteen months after Sri Lanka’s first Express way came into operation in the South, motorist are yet to come to grips on how to drive on a highway, officials disclosed this week.

Failure to wear seat belts, speeding and lack of lane discipline were among the main reasons for the accidents on the expressway that runs from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa in Galle covering a distance of 95 kilometres.

R.A.D. Kahatapitiya, Road Development Authority (RDA) Deputy Director (Maintenance) Southern Expressway, told the Sunday Times that failure to wear seat belts had resulted in severe injuries or even deaths in some cases.

“We have tried to educate the public on the importance of wearing seat belts, but some of them are reluctant to do so. We have noticed that some of them wear the seat belts but remove them midway during the journey,” he said.

“There are instances where vehicles were badly damaged but the driver had survived with injuries as they were wearing seat belts. But there was a couple where the driver was thrown off and killed,” Mr Kahatapitiya pointed out.

He said motorist also try to travel at excessive speeds even speeding over 150 kilometres per hour. The maximum speed limit is 100 kmph.

In one incident a woman driver was detected travelling at 204 kmph when she met with an accident as soon as she left the Pinnaduwa exit point. The woman, a Sri Lankan holding Australian citizenship had taken 20 minutes to reach Pinnadu- wa from Kottawa.

“She tried to defend herself by saying that she was used to driving at high speeds in Australia,” he said.

A fine was imposed on her for driving above the speed limit.

“Motorist should realise that though the surface of the road is good there was the possibility of skidding like on any other road. Therefore bringing the vehicle to a sudden halt after travelling at a high speed could be fatal,” he said.

Mr. Kahatapitiya said some motorists blamed the surface of the carpeted road for skidding. “However, the problem doesn’t lie with the surface, but with speeding,” he added.

He said lack of lane disci- pline was another reason for accidents on the expressway.“Motorists are supposed to travel on the left lane and only overtake from the right lane. But some of the motorists continue to travel on the right lane becoming a hindrance to other drivers and at times resulting in accidents.

“We have also noticed that some of the drivers interchange midway and handover the wheel to inexperienced drivers. As there are no pedestrians crossing the road and other obstacles some believe that driving on the expressway would be a good driving practice. There have been instances where drivers without licences have been detected and fined,” he said.

Some drivers continued to maintain a high speed, without reducing even when the weather was bad he said, adding, that visibility was poor when it rained and the chances of skidding high.

He said the RDA hopes to put up digital signboards giving information about road conditions ahead. “For instance if there is an accident ahead we can alert the motorists. In the same manner if it is raining we can caution drivers,” he added.

Meanwhile, police have availed themselves of a high tech speed gun with digital video recordings that in addition to detecting the speed also records the number plate of any errant driver.

After the recordings are made the fine is imposed at the exit point.