Sri Lanka Police Allow Child Pillion Riders on Compassionate Grounds
(COLOMBO) – Children under the age of 10 riding pillion on motorcycles in Sri Lanka is against the law, but the authorities tend to ignore it on compassionate grounds, a senior most policeman conceded on Wednesday.
There is no legal provision for transporting school children on motorcycles, but the traffic police have allowed this on compassionate grounds, Senior DIG Traffic Administration and Road Safety, Indika Hapugoda said.
He said only pillion riders who meet the age requirement are permitted to place their feet on the motorcycle’s foot-rests and are allowed to travel on motorcycles.
“Schoolchildren aged between 5 and 10 are not allowed to be transported as pillion riders according to the existing traffic law,” he said.
He mentioned that a total of 8.4 million vehicles have been registered with the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) by May 2024, and more than 4.8 million (58 percent) of them are motorcycles.
A total of 12,000 people are killed annually due to accidents, including drownings, electrocutions and falls, suicides etc, while 1,000 are due to motorcycle accidents, he said.
A total of 220 schoolchildren were killed in 2021 due to motorcycle accidents. Accordingly, 157 schoolchildren between the ages of 5 and 6 were killed in 2021.
“In 2021, a total of 220 schoolchildren aged 5 to 10 died in motorcycle accidents. Of these, 157 were between the ages of 5 and 6, 192 were between the ages of 7 and 8, and 181 were between the ages of 9 and 10. The total number of accidents recorded throughout the year was 1,994.”
“In 2022, a total of 282 schoolchildren between the ages of 5 and 18 died in road accidents, with a total of 2,847 accidents recorded that year. In 2023, another 328 schoolchildren were involved in accidents, marking an increase compared to 2022 and 2021”, he said.
