Lanka clamps down on tuk-tuks as accident death toll mounts

Sri Lanka yesterday tightened the rules governing the around 1mn tuk-tuks – rickety three-wheel taxis – on its streets after road traffic accidents claimed a record 3,000 lives last year.The transport ministry said all tuk-tuks must now have head and tail lights, and made it an offence for drivers to smoke while carrying passengers.All three-wheelers will also have to be fitted with fare meters and issue receipts to passengers, it said in a notice in the country’s official gazette.The transport ministry also made it mandatory for the ubiquitous tuk-tuks to have electrically operated windscreen wipers and cabin lights.Police estimate that 3,000 people died on Sri Lanka’s roads last year and about 15% of those were tuk-tuk passengers.Another 100,000 people are seriously wounded in traffic accidents each year in Sri Lanka.Last month, the government announced raising the minimum traffic fines from about 500 rupees ($3.3) to 25,000 rupees ($166) in a bid to make Sri Lankan roads safer.The vast majority of three wheelers in Sri Lanka have been imported from neighbouring India and most of them are in poor condition.