He Braked for a Snake on the Expressway, Caused a 3-Car Crash — Right Call?

On October 3, a driver on the Southern Expressway between Pinnaduwa and Kokmaduwa saw a snake crossing the lane and stopped suddenly. A bus behind couldn't stop in time, rear-ended the car, and shunted it into another car moving alongside. Three people were hurt, including two women, and all were taken to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital. One side says you never slam the brakes on an expressway for an animal — your job is to hold your line, maybe ease off and let it pass, because a sudden stop at 100km/h risks human lives for a snake that would've survived anyway. The other side says braking is instinct, people do it for dogs and even plastic bags, and the real failure here is the vehicle behind following too close to react safely — expressway following distance is the actual problem, not the driver who flinched. If something crosses the road ahead of you on an expressway, what do you actually do — brake, swerve, or hold speed and accept the risk? And how much distance do you really keep from the vehicle in front at expressway speeds? අධිවේගී මාර්ගයේ හදිසියේ බ්‍රේක් දාන එක හරිද? ඔයාලගේ අත්දැකීම් මොනවද?