Demerit points on your licence from April — enough to fix Lanka's road manners, or just hassle?

The RMV says a demerit-point system for traffic offences goes live from April 1, 2026 — points deducted on top of existing fines, with repeat offenders risking their licence. A six-month awareness drive is running now through March so drivers know how the cuts will work. The Commissioner General has also flagged a proper vehicle fitness test beyond the emission certificate, pointing out that a clean emission report says nothing about your brakes, tyres or steering. Supporters say this is overdue — warnings and small fines haven't changed how people overtake on blind curves, jump lights or ignore lanes, and a system that can actually cost your licence might finally force better habits. Critics say enforcement here has always been inconsistent, that points schemes elsewhere get negotiated around at the roadside, and that the real daily dangers — reckless buses, unlit bicycles, three-wheelers cutting lanes, bad road design — won't be touched by any of this. Will a demerit system actually change driving in Sri Lanka, or just become another thing applied selectively? What's the one dangerous habit on your regular route that no rule so far has fixed? මාර්තු සිට ලකුණු කැපෙන නීතිය ඔබේ රියදුරු පුරුදු වෙනස් කරයිද, නැත්නම් මේකත් තවත් නීතියක් විතරද?