Tuk-tuk tourism truths: Cutting through the lies with honest replies

If tourist safety were the true priority, the campaign against self-drive tuk-tuks would be in favour of the real dangers.

- By Calistas Wijesooriya

Data shows that for visitors to Sri Lanka, walking or riding a motorcycle carries a significantly higher risk than driving a low-speed, enclosed three-wheeler. Therefore, opposing a regulated self-drive model for tourists who are rigorously licensed and hold a valid International Driving Permit (IDP) is irrational. This stance ignores comparative safety data to block a form of tourism that offers profound economic benefits, all while permitting statistically more dangerous activities. There is no justification for obstructing well-trained, IDP-holding tourists when the alternatives we allow are far more hazardous.

Yet this very scene of organic tourism is what a powerful lobby in Sri Lanka seems determined to prevent, based on a narrative not of fact, but of fiction.

The myth, pushed relentlessly by segments of the informal tourism transport sector, is as pervasive as it is unfounded: that allowing tourists to drive tuk-tuks is an inherent safety risk. This claim, echoed in the ears of policymakers, has risked a modern, inclusive, and globally aligned tourism model. The truth, however, tells a different story - one where safety is a shared responsibility requiring holistic solutions, not a 'weaponised excuse' to eliminate competition and stifle innovation.

With around 1.18 million registered three-wheelers compared to 900,000 cars, Sri Lanka has more three-wheelers on the road yet they account for a smaller share of fatalities.

The safety smokescreen: A closer look at the data

Research by Prof. Niranga Amarasingha (2021): specializing in Transportation Engineering reveals that motorcycles are involved in over half of all road fatalities in Sri Lanka. If safety were truly the concern, motorcycles - not tuk-tuks, which are limited to 40km/h would be the focus of these attacks. So why, then, is there no lobby to restrict motorcycles?