False Facebook posts claim Sri Lanka raised eligibility age for motorcycle licenses after two children killed in road accident
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on December 15, 2020 at 10:35
- 2 min read
- By AFP Sri Lanka
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This Facebook post published on December 6, 2020 claims the minimum age to apply for a motorcycle license in Sri Lanka has been increased to 25 years old.
The post’s Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: “Hope you are happy
"Can’t obtain motorcycle driving licenses until 25 years of age after January 1 2021.
"A moment's silence for those who are unable to obtain their licenses”.
This claim circulated on Facebook one day after a motorcycle accident killed two young children and critically injured their expectant mother in a Colombo suburb, Sri Lankan newspaper Ceylon Today reported here on December 5, 2020.
A 20-year-old man was arrested following the accident, Sri Lankan media site News First reported here.
A similar claim circulated on Facebook here, here and here.
Comments from some Facebook users indicated they interpreted the posts as a joke, but comments from other users suggested they were misled by the claim. One comment reads: “This is not a fair punishment. These losers must be hanged to death.”
Another comment reads: “This is just a stupid move”
The claim, however, is false; the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) in Sri Lanka said no such amendment had been made.
“There is no truth to that claim. No such amendment to the minimum eligibility age has been made,” a DMT spokesperson told AFP by phone on December 11, 2020.
According to DMT’s official website, the minimum age for obtaining a driver's license remains 17 years old as of December 15, 2020.
Below is a screenshot of the DMT web page:
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