Greedy Scooter Drivers Put Nails on Roads

Times Daily ^ | 10/31/03 | AP

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Greedy scooter taxi drivers in southern Sri Lanka are laying nails on roads to disrupt cheaper bus service and are charging higher fare from commuters, a news report said Friday.

Calling the scooter taxi drivers "three-wheeler mafia," the Island newspaper said that the drivers place nails on roads so that tires of buses are damaged and the vehicles remained non-operational.

"Their modus operandi had been to place nails almost daily on the road so as to damage the tires," Island said quoting a local transport official in Kalutara, about 25 miles south of Colombo.

With no buses, commuters turn to scooter taxies and the drivers charge a minimum of 100 rupees ($1) for a journey which otherwise cost 10 rupees (11 cents).

To show the plight of the commuters, Island carried a photograph showing school children taking free ride in a prison van. The area has Sri Lanka's maximum security prison.

There was no immediate comment from the government on the report.

Scooter taxi is a popular mode of transport in this tropical island of 19 million people which lacks efficient surface transport system.

[Chewbacca]

Easy way to fix this is to hang a powerful magnetic bar from the front of the bus that dangles an inch or so above the road to pick up loose nails and is in front of the tires.

[BraveMan]

You'll like this one . . .

[martin_fierro]

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[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Looks like the roads in Pennsylvania......

[martin_fierro]

Every time I hear Kalifornians whiiiining about how TERRIBLE their roads are, I just have to laugh.

Hands down, PA takes the cake for bad roads. Even the Interstates suck!

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

We have interstates? lol...... you are so right...... big, huge chunks of concrete missing on major roads.....and TOLL roads at that!

[patton]

It astounds me, how what the Romans knew about roads, PA can't figure out.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[ChemistCat]

That's nothing. Oklahoma's road budget hasn't gone up since the Romans built Route 66. ;-)

And you should see our aqueduct system. Talk about OUTDATED and in serious need of infrastructure renewal....

[Consort]

     Sri Lanka

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Sir, I have been to Oklahoma.....and your covered wagons don't need the kind of roads we need in PA.....(hee hee)....but the roads are MUCH better there, for those wagons, than ours are here........(is this the equivilent of "mine's bigger than yours?).....

[Robert A Cook PE]

"is this the equivilent of "mine's bigger than yours?).....

Gee Whiz!

Least you could do is get the number and the gender right..... Robt grumbles as he corrects Whyisa's English....)

"is this the equivilent of "mine are definitely bigger than yours!).....

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

You assume Sir! OH wait, you're right..... lol

Happy Halloween ya PE.......

[ChemistCat]

Well...the bottoms of our potholes have central heating. Our bridges are so bad, our governor is going to start a lottery to determine who lives or dies crossing them.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

We used to have potholes...... but they renamed them I95 and the Northeast Extention 476.......... OH, and I wish we had a governor.......

[StarCMC]

Wow -- you are GOOD!!

[blackie]

Three wheeled mafia ~ Bump!