Deaths due to competing private buses in Sri Lanka
Posted on July 26th, 2020
Nimal Rajakaruna, Melbourne, Australia
Most of us have seen news of another fatal accident in which a Sri Lankan army soldier has died on the Nugegoda fly-over recently when the army vehicle he was driving was hit by one private bus which tried to take over another.
I strongly believe that the issue is with the way that bus service was privatised by the late JRJ government which came to power in 1977. All private buses need to compete with buses of other private owners as well as those of government (SLTB) in order to secure an income which would be sufficient to cover all their costs including finance. In a civilised country, transport, health and education sectors need to mainly belong to the government and if privatised, they should be under strict control of the government and should not be allowed to operate for the sole ambition of making profits. In developed countries like Australia, though transport is privatised, all income generated from ticket sales go to a central fund and respective companies providing the services are paid their shares while the government monitors that the buses, trains and trams provide satisfactory services.
Since privatising the bus service after 1977, thousands of innocent lives have been lost due to incidents like the recent fatal accident but none of the successive government have taken any action to prevent them. There is no doubt that more will die in future unless necessary remedial action is taken without delay. Appreciate if the new president Hon Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s attention is drawn towards a radical change in the bus service system in Sri Lanka to eradicate this menace.
Nimal
Rajakaruna
Melbourne
Australia
July 27th, 2020 at 8:01 am
So true. Last January I rode in one bus I was thinking I was going to die. THey overtake while oncoming traffic. Drivers do not care their lives or passengers. I think they have a brain damage. Conductor always try not to give change after issuing a ticket. Something need to be done control this.
July 27th, 2020 at 8:01 am
So true. Last January I rode in one bus I was thinking I was going to die. THey overtake while oncoming traffic. Drivers do not care their lives or passengers. I think they have a brain damage. Conductor always try not to give change after issuing a ticket. Something need to be done control this.
July 27th, 2020 at 8:53 am
Long years back, I was in a Private bus that gave me the feeling that I was in a Boat in mid sea. He was trying to overtake the CTB bus in front. Speed and Safety was of no concern to the driver. I thought we are going to topple just before Kirillapone Bridge. I decided to get down at the next halt near the Pharmacy.
July 28th, 2020 at 3:49 pm
There must be strict rules that prohibits overtaking other busses on the move. There must be heavy penalties including the death sentence depending on the severity of the offense.
In crowded n population areas the speed limit should be reduced. We don’t have ‘to rediscover the wheel’. We just need to follow the practice in other countries who have successfully reduced traffic related accidents n fatalities!