The Police Department will crack down on drunken drivers from August 1. Most of the road accidents in the recent past have been caused by drunken drivers, said Kurunegala District Senior SP R.M. Jayawardena. He said around 15,000 police officers will be deployed for this special operation. According to the Police Department there were 23,704 road accidents in Sri Lanka in 2020 and 2,370 people had died of injuries due to reckless drivers.
SP Jayawardena said nearly 22,847 road accidents had occurred on the main roads in 2021 and 2,559 people had lost their lives.
While 2,536 persons lost their lives due to 21,992 fatal road accidents in 2022.
Nearly 8,875 road accidents were reported from January 1 to June 18 and 1,043 people had died.
About 2,823 women drivers had been taken in for questioning during the past 24 months for driving under the influence of liquor. About 148 police officers were also taken in for questioning while driving under the influence of liquor and drugs in the past two years, he said.
SP Jayawardena said the Police Department has imported ultra modern testing equipment to examine the saliva of drivers to determine whether they had consumed liquor and other types of narcotics. The Excise Department has deployed 3,200 investigators and police officers to nab drunken pilgrims and drug addicts who visit the historic Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya and all liquor shops in the area will be closed from June 19 to July 4.
Last year, nearly 2,984 youth were nabbed by the police in the Kataragama and Sri Pada sacred areas while consuming liquor and harmful drugs.
The police have called upon pilgrims to be on the alert at all times, since pickpockets and vehicle thieves are reported to be roaming about in the sacred areas. Five new vehicles had been stolen during the past three months in the area, he added.