Strategies for a safer road environment - Part II: Effective traffic management pivotal

Camillus R Abeygoonewardena, Former Deputy Inspector General of Police (Traffic Administration and Road Safety)

Mobility is a basic human need. Therefore, the right to safety in mobility should be embodied or enshrined by the state as a fundamental human right, as a logical extension of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The next category of victims is pedal cyclists who contribute to nine to 10 percent of fatalities. A decade ago this category contributed to a higher percentage of fatalities. The drop in being involved to a lesser degree is certainly not due to safe riding but due to most of them changing over to faster and riskier modes such as motorcycles and Mopeds. Motorcyclists, pedestrians and pedal cyclists together comprise the vulnerable category of road users in our country. They will continue to remain to be vulnerable so long as their safety requirements are not adequately addressed by the relevant authorities. Together, these three categories namely motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and pedestrians account for approximately 70 percent of road fatalities according to last year’s statistics.

Read full article: http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/11/10/fea01.asp

Part I: http://srilankangreens.blogspot.com/2011/11/strategies-for-safer-road-environment.html (http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/11/09/fea01.asp)