Ignoring railway crossing signals to cost drivers Rs.25,000

A Rs.25,000 fine will be imposed on errant drivers who ignore railway level crossing signals, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said yesterday.

The minister said the relevant laws to impose a fine of Rs.25,000 on errant drivers who violate railway crossing signals have been already drafted and these will come into effect shortly.

The Transport Ministry has already embarked on a project to erect new electrical signal units and warning bells at a cost of US $6.4 million at vulnerable railway crossings across the country.

Under the programme, 200 new electrical signal units and 200 automatic alarm bells will be setup at unprotected railway crossings.

A private company affiliated to the Moratuwa University, the Uni-Consultancy Services will implement the project under the supervision of the Transport Ministry.

The minister said there are 1,337 railroad crossings in Sri Lanka and out of these 526 have been properly protected with electrical signal devices. However, the minister said still there are 626 railway crossings which are only protected with bamboo gates.

Through this project, the ministry intends to minimise the bamboo gates and reduce the number of fatal accidents at railway crossings.

According to the minister, there around 75 fatal accidents at railway crossings annually due to motorists ignoring the signals.

The minister also said that CCTV cameras will be set up near busy railway crossings to identify errant drivers who violate railway crossing signals. The minister said strict legal action will be taken and hefty fines will be imposed on those who violate the signal rules.

(Source: Daily News)