"Traffic accidents - hit and run" Top 5 Page for this destination Sri Lanka Warnings Or Dangers Tip by mafi_moya

On a more serious note about driving in Sri Lanka, I have an important tip for anyone planning on driving themselves. I never thought I'd advocate hit-and-run but here it's standard practice. If you hit someone in a built-up area with lots of people around then keep driving. I know it sounds horrible and the first instinct is to stop and help, but stopping could cost you your life. Traffic accidents create mob rule here - if you stop you'll be surrounded and attacked, probably hospitalised or possibly even killed. Obviously if there's few people about and you might be the victim's only chance of survival then it's a different call.

The first time I saw it I was shocked. I was walking along the road and a large car sped through, hit a girl and knocked her about ten feet up in the air. The driver slowed down instinctively then all of a sudden accelerated away. I ran towards the girl cursing the driver and within seconds the fairly quiet road was full of dozens of locals, many of whom knew the girl. They took her off to hospital on a three-wheeler and the driver couldn't really have helped much if he had stopped. But he certainly would have been ripped to pieces by the crowd.