The raid on drugged drivers will be implemented across the country from August 1. Sri Lanka Latest News
In the pilot project conducted in the Western Province, the investigating officers were able to identify 41 people who were driving under the influence of drugs, and 19 of them were bus drivers, according to the police.
The police say that drunken drivers are the main reason for the increasing number of road accidents.
Police reports have revealed that there is an increase in road accidents across the country.
Out of 23,704 road accidents in 2020, 2,370 people died.
In the year 2021, there were 22,847 road accidents and the death toll was 2,559.
2,536 people died in 21,992 road accidents in 2022.
The number of road accidents that have occurred from the first of January to yesterday (18) alone is 8,875.
1,043 of them have died.
The police have identified that the main reason for the increase in road accidents is that some people are driving under the influence of drugs.
Although there are methods to detect people who have consumed alcohol, there was no method to detect drugged drivers before.
Accordingly, the government has started a special program to find out if the drivers have used drugs.
Accordingly, saliva testing kits have been brought to Sri Lanka to detect drunken drivers.
These raids were implemented as a pilot project in the Western Province using these devices from last June 12.
That, checking 1,781 drivers.
Of these, 41 drivers were found to be driving under the influence of drugs, and 19 of them were bus drivers.
9 tricycle drivers and 13 motorcyclists were also caught by the police while driving under the influence of drugs.
Here, 07 convicted drivers have been released on bail and 15 other drivers have been fined and their driving licenses have been suspended.
The Ministry of Transport said that two other drivers who were convicted of driving under the influence of drugs have been sentenced to hard labor.
