Vijitha Herath arrested following accident in Rajagiriya
Posted by Editor on May 31, 2016 - 12:13 pm
JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath was arrested following a road accident, the police said on Tuesday (31).
Herath has been granted police bail initially however he will be ordered to appear before a court as well, according to police.
He was arrested by the Welikada police after his car had reportedly crashed into a telephone pole in Rajagiriya last night (30).
An additional fine will also be imposed on Herath for damaging public property.
(Ada Derana)
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Was he driving under the influence of liqueur?
It is for the Police to determine whether the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol. There could be many other reasons for this accident; for example, defective motor vehicle, unsatisfactory road conditions, distraction caused by other road users or by cell phone.
The great thing about this incident is that the driver surrendered to the Police on the spot and due process is taking place. There are other politicians who drive away and send their driver who was sleeping at home, to surrender to the Police.
Good on you Vijitha, we support you in this hour of need.
what ever may be the cause an accident is an accident not something done deliberately anyway its up to the motorist to drive carefully and assures that is vehicle is safe to drive in with no defects.
In Sri Lanka, accidents are caused mainly by 3 factors. The factors are:
1. Poorly maintained vehicles: The licensing system is totally corrupt, the fact that any vehcle in any un-roadworthy condition could be licensed or registered annually by passing a few LKR’s under the table.
2. The driver’s condition: Anyone under the influence of alcohol, drugs (very common) and fatigue could drive a vehicle and share a few LKR’s to those in charge of ensuring driver capability on the road.
3. The state of the rods: The authorities responsible for maintaining drivable roads spend most of the monies allocate to them in paying wages of redundant political appointees; very little of funds are spent on maintaining roads that can be driven upon, safely.
JVP Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath has been acquitted from charges of driving under the influence of alcohol by the Magistrate of the Colombo Traffic Court on Wednesday (June 01).
However, he was ordered to pay Rs 1,500 government fee for two other charges of reckless driving and damaging public property. The JVP Propaganda Secretary was arrested following a road accident on Monday (May 30) night and granted police bail. He was arrested by the Welikada police after his car reportedly crashed into a telephone pole in Rajagiriya.
Speaking to media yesterday, Herath denied allegation that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. He also pointed out that a report issued by a Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) cleared him from this charge. According to Herath, he lost control of the vehicle and collided with a telephone pole as he was trying to save a pedestrian who crossed the road unexpectedly.
Well done Vijitha, you are a HERO.
Mr Thilak
Non of the factors you mentioned are the course of accidents in Sri Lanka. The main factor of coursing accidents in Sri Lanka is the receiving of foreign aid.
Mr Amarakoon
No the driver wasn not driving under the influence of liqueur. Like other Sri Lanken drivers he was influenced by strong untested medicine prescribed by our (memorize the book and pass the exam so called doctors) medicine men.
This happens when you receive foreign aid. Again we need these and foreign loans to keep us going.
Our education system produce idiots, We don’t want to starve do we Mr Amarakoon.
Mr. Thilak Maruwanpola thank you for giving the reasons for accidents in SL. Well, if we take point no.1, it is out because a person like Vijitha Herath is unlikely to have a defected vehicle. No. 3 is also can’t be considered in this case because this happened in Welikada where roads conditions are not that bad (BTW way Champika too had his infamous accident in Welikada).
Then, we are left with No. 2: My questions are why this guy was driving so fast in middle of the night? Why he couldn’t control his speed (reckless driving). Clearly he was putting commuters in danger and property. In this case, he damaged a government property. Why police failed to take a breath test is another question. This is Bad Propagana for the JVPs Propaganada Chief indeed.
Dear Ranjith I agree with you that Vijtha Herath was not driving after consuming alcohol may be he was intoxicated with some unknown substance (May be arishta or kalkaya). Since you are an expert in educational system in Sri Lanka would like to know the relationship between ‘Prescribing medicine and foreign loans. I am just curious.
State of Roads, vehicle more than 10 years old and with poor technic controle after every 5 years.,
And of course often drivers’ négligence or influence of alcool .Here he is a honest gentleman to inform to the Police Personally.
We need good maintenance of roads everywhere.