Investigating improvements for training on expressway driving for drivers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Well organized road network is vital for the development of a country. With the development of the first expressway, the southern expressway in 2011, travel time, traffic congestion, fuel and delay costs were reduced for the A2 road users which contributed to the national economy of Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, when issuing the driving license, it can be seen that the main focus is on vehicle classes respective with the driver and the class of road is not considered at all. However, at present, drivers who use the expressways do not get any theoretical knowledge or driving lessons regarding expressway driving, as driving license issuing process has not upgraded to meet the new road class of expressways. This can affect the smooth, safe and efficient functioning, which would also be a complication in the future with the construction of new expressway road networks. From previously conducted BSc Engineering dissertation by the author, based on expressway data analysis and public opinion, main causes for crash data, ticket issuing data, road rule violations and factors related to expressway driver behavior in Sri Lanka were identified. It was proved by the results that providing driver training for drivers who use the expressways was a necessity when obtaining the driving license. This research was focused on attaining a solution for this problem. After studying and referring the expressway driving procedures as well as rules and regulations in foreign countries and Sri Lanka several multiple choice questions were suggested to expand the scope of driving license examination, which would encourage the drivers to learn about proper expressway driving. One of the main challenges had been to collect data from different locations and authorities, in order to process them, so as future improvements, if a central computerized database system with daily expressway traffic updates could be developed with the help of RDA, Sri Lanka police and other authorities, the efficiency of this process would be increased.