Seat belt wearing is compulsory (2 items)

One week’s time to tighten your seat belts



By Damith Wickremasekara

Police will give a week’s grace period for drivers to get used to the new seat belt rule which came into effect yesterday, a senior police officer said.

Deputy Inspector General Anura Senanayake said that after the grace period, the Police would strictly enforce the law. Those travelling on the front seat without a seat belt would be fined Rs. 1,000 for the first offence, Rs. 2000 for the second and Rs. 3,000 for the third. If a fourth offence is committed the driving licence would be suspended for three months. He said the police would hold talks with the Motor Traffic Commissioner to work out a system of recording the number of offences.

The DIG said those violating the law would not be fined on the spot but would have to come to courts to pay the fine. The Police had deployed special teams to educate drivers on the importance of wearing seat belts and were compelled to get tough after more than two decades of appeals had failed, he said.

Seat belt becomes law

The seat-belt ruling for vehicle passengers has finally become law, as of this weekend.“The law, which is designed to protect lives, is in effect,” said K. Arasaratnam, Senior Superintendent of Police and Director Traffic, Police Headquarters. “We have noticed that occupants of font seats do not always wear the belt. The seat belt definitely helps to protect lives.”

SSP Arasaratnam said almost half of the fatalities in road accidents involved the driver of the vehicle or the front-seat passenger. Last year, there were 2,721 road accident fatalities, and of these 1,203 were the driver or the front-seat passenger. Statistics show that every four hours one person is killed on the road and more than 100 accidents happen across the country.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/111002/News/nws_05.html

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Seat belts, a must, say police

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The City Traffic Police issued a last minute warning yesterday to all motorists to wear seat belts for their personal safety.

According to the Motor Traffic Act, wearing seat belts from yesterday (October 1) is compulsory for drivers and other passengers in the front seat of cars and dual purpose vehicles that bear English letters with numbers.

Traffic Police SP Chula de Silva told the Sunday Observer that although the law is applicable only for drivers and passengers in the front seats of these two types of vehicles, others who have seat belts in their vehicles should follow suit.

He said the law pertaining to wearing seat belts will also be made compulsory in almost all vehicles such as buses and lorries that are registered after October 1.

The law will not apply to tri-shaws, vans with three wheels, hearses, special duty vehicles, hand tractors and other tractors that are used for agricultural and garbage transport. People who are less than five feet in height and those who hold medical certificates that they should refrain from using seat belts on medical grounds are also exempted from the law.

SP de Silva, however, warned people driving all kinds of vehicles whether they bear English letters with numbers or any other vehicles to be cautious when driving at high speed, overtaking other vehicles at road bends and driving after consuming liquor .

It was reported that a driver was killed on the spot at Pasyala even while wearing a seat belt.

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/10/02/new21.asp