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345 road accidents on  31st night  

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema 

Another 31st  night with all its glory has flitted through and the downside is all that revellery generally comes at a price with an alarming increase in 31st night road accidents. According to police sources a total of 345 road accidents were recorded on 31st night alone with 116 cases being attributed to reckless driving.

However, the celebrations were grand this year, despite the cracker mania being somewhat low and the passing away of Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thero adding a somber note to the special night.

Nevertheless, Colombo did not lack revellers or d‚cor to match the swinging mood.

The dances at all the five star venues were booked to capacity. Every hotel had gone through quite a process to make this night extra ordinary and memorable.

The fireworks display at Mt. Lavinia Hotel and Galle Face Hotel, two premier venues with a nice seafront were spectacular. The fireworks down the coastline were a bonus to most revellers.

This time round, radio stations also organised musical shows and the main events were held at the Galle Face Green, Town Hall Grounds and Parliament Grounds. The places, according to revellers simply brimmed with people.

A drive around Colombo during the wee hours of January 1 morning saw roads congested with traffic. To prevent any law-breaking situation, the traffic police had put up several temporary roadblocks down key roads  to check  speeding drivers and to detect drunken drivers.

Sadly, this year too, there was no monitoring on the use of firecrackers. Roads were covered with remnants of firecrackers after midnight and there were also some who were sending skyrockets on the road.

However, the number of firecracker victims has dropped over the past few years.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Director, Accident Service, Colombo National Hospital, Anil Jasinghe said that there were 26 cases of road accident victims, 20 cases of victims of violent incidents, 16 victims of falls and 18 cases of firecracker victims admitted to the hospital between 31st night midnight to 7 a.m. on January 1.

Jasinghe noted that one third of the total number of patients were admitted to the hospital within seven hours of the dawn of the new year.

According to him, 90% of the patients admitted after midnight were under the influence of liquor.

However, on a positive note he said that there were no deaths reported on new year's eve.

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