Under the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety programme and the mobility grant programme of FIA, Automobile Association has been conducting many road safety awareness projects which help all road users in Sri Lanka. We also co-ordinate and obtain the support of National Council for Road Safety (NCRS), Ministry of Transport, Department of Police, Corporate citizens and public groups to conduct a fruitful programme.
This year under the project “Vehicle testing can save lives” we are aiming to create awareness on the importance of testing and repairing vehicles regularly, before driving/ riding on a road. Unlike in developed countries, other than the heavy vehicles, lorries & busses are not subjected to a ‘testing process’ to ascertain the road worthiness or identify the basic requirements such as headlights, trafficators, brakes, brake lights, wipers, tyre conditions, windscreen visibility, seat belts etc. Hence, we need to implement a programme to test all vehicles without adding a huge cost to vehicle owners. AA Ceylon is planning to work with all government authorities, universities, public groups and Police to introduce a workable solution to fulfil this fundamental requirement before driving a vehicle on to the road. There are around 8 million registered vehicles in Sri Lanka, which accounts to more than 40% of the adult population. Less than 20% are subjected to a vehicle test and only the emission test is done for all vehicles. Number of fatal accidents due to technical faults are increasing and demands immediate action to save lives. The treatment and damages to properties due to accidents have cost billions of Rupees to the government. Preventing accidents or reducing the impact by imposing appropriate laws & encouraging owners to maintain vehicles can help the nation to save funds which can be invested on education and health requirements.
We respectfully invite you to give publicity and support AA Ceylon and FIA to address this national issue of ‘vehicles not being sufficiently tested for road worthiness’. Kindly post details pertaining to the need of this hour on all your FB and other social media platforms to draw the attention of all drivers and riders. The campaign “Vehicle testing can save lives” will not only protect the lives of all road users, but will also minimise the damages to properties caused due to accidents.
