20 things to think about when considering misconceptions about road safety

[Airbagwill]

When it comes to road safety, Thailand is facing a perfect storm. A rapidly industrialising country with it’s own motor industry and bourgeoning vehicle ownership. coupled with a succession of governments who rather than listen to the established science of road safety prefer to be guided by their own ill-informed prejudices about  what the causes might be......

 

If you start with the assumption that the world is flat, you are going encounter problems when planning a trip. So it is with road safety in Thailand

 

 What is now needed is for Thailand to forget about their old prejudices and preconceptions and get in line with the rest of the world and adopt a comprehensive road safety policy - the “Safe System”

 

So here are 20 home truths about how we view road safety in Thailand.
 

1.    Dunning & Kruger recommend that you review your driving skills! - So...most people are notoriously bad at estimating their own skills.
Thus, individuals do not believe they are dangerous on the roads but at the same time fervently believe others are.

 

2.    Foreigners who drive in Thailand frequently turn on the vitriol when it comes to talking about their fellow roads users...automatically excluding themselves from the equation and concomitantly implying that their driving skills are far superior to those of any Thai people.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.”
There is a consistent view that OTHERS drive in a more risky manner than individuals themselves do.
 

3.    Take a look at yourself - “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”

 

4.    The arrogance of the Farang driver... (NB not road user but “driver”)

·      I think all problems on road emanate from one source - my idea of “bad driving”

·      Personally, I am a SUPERB driver - I am not likely to be responsible for an accident; others are likely to be responsible. Therefore there is little I can do myself.

·      As I assume that I’m already prepared there is, less likely to be a need to “plan to avoid them”

·      Campaigns aimed at dangerous driving are for “other” drivers not themselves.

·      I am not aware of the “third-person effect” (Davison, 1983).

·      I give support for enforcement, engineering solutions and education ... but not for me - for other people. 

 

5.    Thai drivers are no more stupid than any others - we are all the same race. The situation in Thailand is not unique - it has existed in Europe and USA before with the same number of deaths per 100k - ALL countries have experienced peaks in death rates at that time when vehicle ownership becomes almost universal - those who have dealt with it most successfully are in Europe.

 

6.    No such thing as an accident - Most accidents are caused by minor human error in the course of normal everyday driving and therefore could have been avoided. Therefore the notion that most crashes are 'accidents' that were unavoidable is fallacious - Crashes are not usually the result of a major piece of “reckless” driving. .... And this is a worldwide common denominator. It is what happens AFTER the mistake has been made that determines to death rate - this is usually out of the hand s of the driver and reliant on the environment and emergency services.

 

7.    Just because you can drive a car, doesn’t mean you’re a road safety expert - Road safety and driving are not the same thing  - road safety is about “road users” and the road environment.

 

8.    If you find yourself constantly getting angry/shouting at or blaming other road users, you probably shouldn’t be driving.

 

9.    Driving a car in Thailand is statistically as safe as in the USA (80% of deaths are attributed to “vulnerable” road users = motorcyclists, 3 wheelers & pedestrians)

 

10.    The plural of anecdote is not data - ever!

 

11.    ...Don’t believe everything you see. Understand confirmation bias...even salt looks like sugar. .... also called “confirmatory bias” or “myside bias”, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

 

12.    Don’t fall for false syllogisms... A false premise is an incorrect proposition that forms the basis of an argument or syllogism. Since the premise (proposition, or assumption) is not correct, the conclusion drawn is likely to be in error.

A syllogism is reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

e.g.

Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded.
Minor premise: All black dogs are mammals.
Conclusion: Therefore, all black dogs are warm-blooded.

 

False Syllogism

Major premise: All dogs have 4 legs.
Minor premise: my cat has 4 legs

Conclusion: Therefore, my cat is a dog.

 

13.    Mark Twain claimed to be quoting Disraeli when he said “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics”
Stats are NOT facts they are collections of numbers and are meaningless until analysed and interpreted - they are not a football league table.

 

 

14.    There is more than one statistic for quantifying road safety e.g. VKT, Deaths per 100k vehicles, traffic density, number of actual collisions/crashes, Serious Injuries & Minor Injuries, number of vehicles registered, miles of road, types of road, weather....
 

15.    Thailand loses 3 to 5 % of its GDP due to road traffic crashes - WHO
 

16.    Police statistics are not used alone to compile the figures for death in Thailand.
 

·      The criteria for a road death is within 30 days of the crash.

·      Statistics are gathered from hospitals, insurance companies and police.

·      Reporting to all sources is incomplete and unsatisfactory as is the categorization of crashes into death, serious injury and minor injury.

·      There is little or no analysis of the crash scene even if a crash comes to the notice of the police.

 

17.    Data Sources used for compiling Statistics of road traffic        crashes in Thailand...

·      Police Information System (POLIS) - Royal Thai Police

·      TRAMS - Ministry of Transport

·      E-Claim - Road Victim Protection Company

·      Injury Surveillance (IS) - Ministry of Public Health

·      Trauma Registry - Ministry of Public Health

·      External Causes of Injury - Ministry of Public Health

·      Information Technology for Emergency Medical System (ITEMS) - Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand

·      Emergency Claim Online (EMCO) - National Health Security Office

·      OP/PP Individual Record - National Health Security Office

·      Death Certificates - Ministry of Interior

 

 

18.   There can be little or no improvement until Thailand adopts the 5 Es.

·      Education

·      Enforcement

·      Engineering

·      Emergency

·      Evaluation.

Without ALL of these improvement is virtually impossible

 

19.    Don’t just blame the “drivers” - all accidents can be PREVENTED - this is a health & safety problem and the roads are the workplace. And it is ALL OF US that need a change of attitude.

 

20.    “Culture” this is used frequently as a substitute for racism or national stereotyping without any regard to its true meaning. - If you really want to understand the culture of road behavior in Thailand, then pretend you are on a boat on a river and everything falls into place.
 

 

“For long-term road safety, we need to move beyond blaming the individual road user.” -

 

What is needed is a paradigm shift; we have to undergo basic changes as a society in terms of how we perceive road safety in order to create safer environments for all road users.
The truth is that successive governments have allowed the current situation to continue unabated - it requires a detailed understanding of the problems and implementation of ALL 5 Es - this requires substantial re-investment even in the newest of highways and even a constitutional change in how the law is operated with a genuine separation of powers - legislative, executive and judiciary. Without these fundamental reforms even the most elementary of measures are destined to fail.

A highly effective way to engage politicians, policy makers and system designers in a debate on a Safe System is to create increased demand for road safety among citizens. The traditional societal view holds that road users bear the main responsibility for road safety hazards. It is they who should be “blamed and shamed” for incidents and measures should focus on correcting their irresponsible behaviour. In contrast, a Safe System is based on the notion that road users are citizens with rights and should be able to take part in road traffic without risking death or serious injury – even if and when they make simple human mistakes. A Safe System also posits that road safety is a shared responsibility, and thus gives citizens the right to demand safe road traffic from society.*

 

*[I’ve borrowed heavily from the “Car Crash Detective” for the last two paragraphs - http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/rather-than-blame-and-shame-see-road-safety-as-a-human-right/

 

[Jai Dee]

There are some good points for discussion in the OP.

@Airbagwill

Is this your own discussion paper or has it been cut and pasted from elsewhere?

 

If this topic is allowed to continue to run, let's be careful with our observations and criticism of Thai behavioural approaches to road safety, and not let things deteriorate into Thai-bashing please.

[Airbagwill]

The piece is my own. The last 2 paragraphs have a citation.

 

[transam]

Just get the paid BiB out there......That will be the start....

[Airbagwill]

13 minutes ago, transam said:

Just get the paid BiB out there......That will be the start....

It doesn't matter how much you pay them if  they aren't trained properly.

It also requires a fully operative legal system with separated executive and judiciary to handle it.

However my OP is more about how we set about perceiving road safety and why pulling solutions out of a hat is the wrong approach.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Airbagwill

[transam]

8 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

It doesn't matter how much you pay them if  they aren't trained properly.

It also requires a fully operative legal system with separated executive and judiciary to handle it.

However my OP is more about how we set about perceiving road safety and why pulling solutions out of a hat is the wrong approach.

As a naughty boy I found out that BiB presence was the key...

[JaseTheBass]

Thais are world class when it comes to using their phones while driving. Much cleaverer than me as I have to use hands-free when on the phone and worst of all, Facebook has to wait until I am away from the car completely!

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[hansnl]

On 1/4/2018 at 1:10 PM, Jai Dee said:

There are some good points for discussion in the OP.

@Airbagwill

Is this your own discussion paper or has it been cut and pasted from elsewhere?

 

If this topic is allowed to continue to run, let's be careful with our observations and criticism of Thai behavioural approaches to road safety, and not let things deteriorate into Thai-bashing please.

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Road fatalities in the USA 2016: 102 per day.

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

All numbers are more or less.

Relate the road deaths to the number of inhabitants then the EU is rather safe to drive, the USA less so, and Thailand dangerous.

As most drivers driving in Thailand are Thai, there must be a connection somewhere to driver abilities.

[dotpoom]

I considered myself a "good driver" and indeed have been told so by others. I was a proffessional driver most of my life, I also spent time as a driving instructor.

   I was driving in Thailand for about 16 years, then stopped, got "she who must be obeyed" to get her driving licence and put the car "fairly powerful one" into her name.......why?

  I found after driving that length of time here I was beginning to "take chances" that I wouldn't have done before. Partly because I felt it was necessary in many cases to get to my destination (like not waiting all day for somebody to "let me out") and other similar stuff.

   I am 68 and found that my patience was getting shorter and my anger was riseing more quickly.

  My intuition was telling me that maybe it was time to pack it in. I have learned over my lifetime that it is wise to.......listen to one's inner Teacher.

   Now life is much more pleasent sitting in the passenger seat and being ably to enjoy the surroundings as we motor along (all be it at a slower pace) 555.

[norbra]

Maybe the authorities could look at the tv ads for new cars featuring "outrunning land slips .launching airborne through earthquake dust cloud, sliding sideways to a stop, cresting hilly terrain whilst airborne" are these capabilities needed to sell their products? Is this the way their customers are urged to drive? Why not display comfort and safety features as well as the additional free items, mirrors. turn indicators rear and front lights ,speedometer, brake pedal etc

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Road fatalities in the USA 2016: 102 per day.

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

All numbers are more or less.

Relate the road deaths to the number of inhabitants then the EU is rather safe to drive, the USA less so, and Thailand dangerous.

As most drivers driving in Thailand are Thai, there must be a connection somewhere to driver abilities.

As I've pointed out that is in fact a false premise - a false syllogism even.

you are confusing association with causation. The latter being the basis for a truer argument.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Airbagwill

[giddyup]

4 minutes ago, norbra said:

Maybe the authorities could look at the tv ads for new cars featuring "outrunning land slips .launching airborne through earthquake dust cloud, sliding sideways to a stop, cresting hilly terrain whilst airborne" are these capabilities needed to sell their products? Is this the way their customers are urged to drive? Why not display comfort and safety features as well as the additional free items, mirrors. turn indicators rear and front lights ,speedometer, brake pedal etc

Agreed. In fact some ads show downright reckless driving, ads that would not be allowed to be shown in many countries.

[Airbagwill]

17 minutes ago, norbra said:

Maybe the authorities could look at the tv ads for new cars featuring "outrunning land slips .launching airborne through earthquake dust cloud, sliding sideways to a stop, cresting hilly terrain whilst airborne" are these capabilities needed to sell their products? Is this the way their customers are urged to drive? Why not display comfort and safety features as well as the additional free items, mirrors. turn indicators rear and front lights ,speedometer, brake pedal etc

As I said, you can't solve the problem by just addressing single issues - you are talking about "E for education" and certainly in the EU there are rstrictions on selling cars on grounds of  speed and anti-social driving habits.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Airbagwill

[Airbagwill]

26 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

I considered myself a "good driver" and indeed have been told so by others. I was a proffessional driver most of my life, I also spent time as a driving instructor.

   I was driving in Thailand for about 16 years, then stopped, got "she who must be obeyed" to get her driving licence and put the car "fairly powerful one" into her name.......why?

  I found after driving that length of time here I was beginning to "take chances" that I wouldn't have done before. Partly because I felt it was necessary in many cases to get to my destination (like not waiting all day for somebody to "let me out") and other similar stuff.

   I am 68 and found that my patience was getting shorter and my anger was riseing more quickly.

  My intuition was telling me that maybe it was time to pack it in. I have learned over my lifetime that it is wise to.......listen to one's inner Teacher.

   Now life is much more pleasent sitting in the passenger seat and being ably to enjoy the surroundings as we motor along (all be it at a slower pace) 555.

I think most people are appallingly bad at assessing their own driving skills. many mistake a slavish acceptance of local driving codes as "good driving" and then have huge problems when driving in places like Thailand because the other motorists and road users don't do what they want them to do.

 

However I reduced the amount of driving I di in the UK - because I bacame increasingly prone to road rage, I took myself off the road some and did a lot more research and theory.

the conclusion of course is that the road sof UK as any other country are full of complete if=diots and it is only the road safety policies of a country that prevent the idiots - for the most part - from doing what they do best - being idiots.

in Thailand I've covered 100s of thousands of kilometres and I find the experience in general very relaxing therapeutic, even - I hardly ever get angry with other motorists.

however even in Europe and Australia I began to realise that I wasn't 25 anymore and my physical skills wand reactions etc were no longer that of an omplic athlete - so I tend to drive accordingly - I don't labour underthe delusion, however, the "slow is safe".

 

[manarak]

As a good INTJ with asperger's syndrome, I can only point out statements that for me are lies, for example:

 

Quote

18.   There can be little or no improvement until Thailand adopts the 5 Es.

·      Education

·      Enforcement

·      Engineering

·      Emergency

·      Evaluation.

Without ALL of these improvement is virtually impossible

of course implementing 4 of those 5 would already bring great improvement.

 

[johnarth]

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Road fatalities in the USA 2016: 102 per day.

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

All numbers are more or less.

Relate the road deaths to the number of inhabitants then the EU is rather safe to drive, the USA less so, and Thailand dangerous.

As most drivers driving in Thailand are Thai, there must be a connection somewhere to driver abilities.

you only have to watch video clips on the news to see what causes " mishaps"

[Airbagwill]

Rather than example of bad driving I was hoping, as in the title, to discuss the

"misconceptions about road safety"

[Airbagwill]

1 minute ago, johnarth said:

you only have to watch video clips on the news to see what causes " mishaps"

that is the problem 

Rather than example of bad driving I was hoping, as in the title, to discuss the

"misconceptions about road safety"

 

[jimn]

I wont even bother to qoute the OP. What overkill. Simple fact is that there are bad Thai drivers who massivly outweigh the bad Farang drivers. I class myself as an ok driver but most Thais just dont have a clue. The slow cars in the outside lane who wont move over and the tailgating pick ups are the worse. They cant even use roundabouts something which is common all over the world, instead they use dangerous UTurns. I find myself driving more and more selfish when on a fast road Thailand does that to you. Perhaps then I become part if the problem. So for me teach the Thais how to drive properly and educate them about road safety and eticate. The rest will follow suit. It will take a massive investment of time and money by the Thais but its the only way foward. As a footnote dont make the mistake of classing all Farangs the same. Farangs from Eastern European countries are aweful drivers too.

[Airbagwill]

17 minutes ago, manarak said:

As a good INTJ with asperger's syndrome, I can only point out statements that for me are lies, for example:

 

of course implementing 4 of those 5 would already bring great improvement.

 

"already" - not sure what you mean by that but.....Not really as the 5Es are interconnected

You picked 4 and 5...

 

This involves  better roads, cars and Emergency services.

Unfortunately they are still designing dangerous road - I was talking to a civil engineer involved in the major projects around Chonburi a couple of days ago and he basically admitted there is no consideration given to road safety when designing the roads - they are based on weight and units per km. So oe has to EDUCATE - (E!) the road builders.

Also the type of vehicles on Thai roads needs to be reviewed - they are largely in the lower safety categories and of extremely mixed type and little effort is given to divide potentially conflicting form of road user.

 

E- for emergency. This involves two main aspects - the speed and efficiency in which RTI victims are reached and secondly the treatment they get once in a hospital.

Unfortunately to sort this would require some major re-organisations of the Thai health industry. I'm afraid that if you don't have the right cover or end up in and under equipped hospital, your chances are considerably reduced.

As for the E for emergency services themselves - for a country as rich as Thailand they are a joke!

 

Edited January 24, 2018 by Airbagwill

[Airbagwill]

4 minutes ago, jimn said:

I wont even bother to qoute the OP. What overkill. Simple fact is that there are bad Thai drivers who massivly outweigh the bad Farang drivers. I class myself as an ok driver but most Thais just dont have a clue. The slow cars in the outside lane who wont move over and the tailgating pick ups are the worse. They cant even use roundabouts something which is common all over the world, instead they use dangerous UTurns. I find myself driving more and more selfish when on a fast road Thailand does that to you. Perhaps then I become part if the problem. So for me teach the Thais how to drive properly and educate them about road safety and eticate. The rest will follow suit. It will take a massive investment of time and money by the Thais but its the only way foward. As a footnote dont make the mistake of classing all Farangs the same. Farangs from Eastern European countries are aweful drivers too.

QED

[samsensam]

On 04/01/2018 at 8:48 AM, transam said:

Just get the paid BiB out there......That will be the start....

 

genuine recognition of the issues and action by the relevant government departments  - stop the lip service

 

the police to actually do their job

 

legal consequences for those that break the law

 

relevant, robust and professional driving instruction and licensing of drivers

 

campaigns to get public support and buy in to the benefits of road safety

 

but it isn''t going to happen mainly due to the endemic corruption here

 

[impulse]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Road fatalities in the USA 2016: 102 per day.

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

All numbers are more or less.

Relate the road deaths to the number of inhabitants then the EU is rather safe to drive, the USA less so, and Thailand dangerous.

As most drivers driving in Thailand are Thai, there must be a connection somewhere to driver abilities.

 

Or it could be the huge percentage of scooters in Thailand, which are 20-40x as dangerous per km driven as a 4 wheeled vehicle.  If 75% of the vehicles in Europe or the USA were scooters, their numbers would look a lot worse, too.

 

Edit:  So bad, in fact that the gov'ts and the insurance companies would get together and figure out a way to outlaw scooters.  They'd do that in Thailand if the insurance payouts were in the 5 or 6 or 7 figures like they are back in the nanny states.

 

Edited January 24, 2018 by impulse

[manchega]

Lets make this clear

 

Thailand teaches people to operate vehicles.

 

It does not teach people how to do so safely.

 

that is it.  poster can make all apologies it wants, but those are the facts.

 

Number 2. if police shot all drivers holding up traffic by driving too slowly or stopping on public highways to pop in shops etc. traffic problems would be cut in half.

 

Once news of new policy gets around risk adverse would stop driving.

[Enoon]

 

"What is now needed is for Thailand to forget about their old prejudices and preconceptions...."

 

Stop there.

 

Good luck with that.

 

 

 

 

[electric]

I'm sorry OP. You can use all the big words and academic rationalisation you want.

 

I think it's way more simple than all that.

 

Too many road users just thumb their noses at the existing laws, because they know they've got almost zero chance of being caught and penalised, so consequently, it's just the Wild West on the roads.

 

Serious enforcement of existing road laws is the only way you'll ever see any improvement. Back in our home countries, we are taught to obey the road laws, or else face very severe penalties.

 

Locals here don't give a toss, because there's no enforcement.

 

RTP .... get out there and actually make a difference.

 

[richard_smith237]

I think ALL of the points the made in the Op are valid.

 

I think the majority of the points made in the Op are understood by those Thai's in positions of decision making power. 

 

I suspect one of the main problems is that those in Positions of Decision Making Power are not yet themselves significantly impacted by such issues as road safety and are therefore not greatly concerned. 

 

The Paradigm Shift while certainly required and is a theoretically attractive solution is extremely difficult to achieve - a fundamentally non-confrontational, sabai-sabai, peace loving nation which ultimately is apathetic towards consequence is unlikely to readily adopt new habits unless forced to do so by a system which from Top to Bottom remains focused and is non-corrupt.

 

The issue here is that the 'Top to Bottom' systems (enforcement) are unable to remain focused as their attention is always shifted to the next 'crack-down' and pleasing the media with its lip-service against the latest scandal [Trafficking, Drugs, Flooding, Farming, Rubber etc etc etc]... 

 

The issue here is that the 'Top to Bottom' systems are so overwhelmed that the focus of any 'single power player' is momentary before attention shifts to the next issue and the apathy regarding the major issues once again take root and those who could make a difference given the right circumstances simply give up. 

 

It really is such a shame - everyone (including Thai's) recognizes 'something must be done' but 'getting it done' may perhaps take generations. 

 

In recognizing this - there is a strong argument for road safety to be taught in schools. 

 

There is a strong argument for Drivers Education to be taught in schools of any country given the Death Tolls, Cost to Society and Burden on the Economy.

 

The economic burden on the Thai Economy as a result of traffic congestion is estimated to run in to Billions of Baht per year.

 

Thus: There is a 'Double issue' - Road Safety and Congestion: Mitigation measures are in dire need of being addressed and doing so now in Schools is one starting point, continuing to do so with Televised education campaigns is another -  While many solutions may be more difficult to implement the 'Education Solution' is one of the simplest and could be started very quickly. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by richard_smith237

[impulse]

50 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thus: There is a 'Double issue' - Road Safety and Congestion: Mitigation measures are in dire need of being addressed and doing so now in Schools is one starting point, continuing to do so with Televised education campaigns is another -  While many solutions may be more difficult to implement the 'Education Solution' is one of the simplest and could be started very quickly. 

 

Only if, by "Education" you mean enforcement that teaches drivers that there are consequences to poor habits, before they learn it the tragic way.  Accidents and death don't happen often enough, and the consequences are too dire to be useful as a learning tool.

 

In spite of great driver's ed, I was a hazard during my first year or so of driving- before I developed my skills by practicing on the roads..  Fortunately, I was so afraid of the cops, the cost of tickets, and the possibility of losing my license that I practiced driving to avoid the attention of the cops.  It's no coincidence that those same skills are the very ones that also avoid accidents.  

 

Human nature has people behaving in a manner that maximizes the perceived benefits to themselves.  Until enforcement gets to a level where the perceived benefits of going faster, weaving, and driving the wrong way (and on sidewalks) are exceeded by the perceived benefits of driving sanely, people are going to die at a very high rate.  As stated, accidents don't happen nearly as often as getting pulled over, and have such dire consequences that getting pulled over is a much more effective and humane way to "educate" the drivers.

 

[connda]

"No such thing as an accident - Most accidents are caused by minor human error in the course of normal everyday driving and therefore could have been avoided."

I'll simple take one comment at a time.  Let's start here.  That, here in Thailand, is absurd.

I drive frequently.  I've watched as I have been overtaken on blind corners that are clearly marks (lane strips) as no passing zones, but forget the lane strips - this is about individuals making a choice to accelerate and pass a car on a corner that they can not see around, or on a hill they can not see over, and then when they encounter an oncoming car, the simply maintain their lane and expect the oncoming car to avoid them.   I can not remember one time in 40 years of driving that I had to 'go to the shoulder' to avoid a collision with another car in the US, but here in Thailand???  Probably a number of time each month.  So don't - don't - don't say that the carnage you see here are misjudgments.  Most are due to aggressive, careless, and utterly stupid driving.  Back to passing on blind corners and blind hills.

You contend that it's not 'Stupid."  Ok, let's change the word: "Suicidal."  It risks, at a minimum, lives in three different vehicles: the suicidal driver doing the passing, those being passed, and the oncoming vehicle. 

You sound like an apologist.  It comes off as ingenuous.  That sort of driving is insane.  And it is not like this type of driving does not get press coverage.  It does.  A lot of press and social media coverage.  And yet the locals keep engaging in the same behavior. 

This country, unlike Western and developed countries - Does not have a functional police presence in patrol cars who patrol the roads and cite drivers for infractions of the law. "Moving violations" as we would call them.  Road blocks don't catch aggressive driving.  How many road blocks stop a driver cruising at 160kph and weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off other drivers, causing near accidents - at a road block?  Zero!  This can only be stopped by petrol officers in patrol cruisers looking for dangerous driving.

This country does not have sanctions that are sever enough to be a deterrent to dangerous driving.
This country does not have a driver education system that reaches the majority of the population with a program to train drivers of the law and how to actually drive safely.
This country allows non-licenses drivers to pay a fee and continue to drive ad-infinitum. 
Noting changes - so don't apologize for the behavior that they could correct, but choose to ignore. 

I've read the rest of your points.  Many are spot on.  Others or weak.  This particular argument that I replies to is at best - weak.  Try rethinking it.

Edited January 24, 2018 by connda

[connda]

6 hours ago, hansnl said:

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Road fatalities in the USA 2016: 102 per day.

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

All numbers are more or less.

 

Road fatalities in the EU 2016: 71 per day.

Population of the EU 2015: 743,000,000 (best numbers I have)
I'll use the conservative numbers: ie 2015 population with 2016 accident death rate
25915 deaths / 743,000,000 citizen = 0.000034879 deaths per citizen

Road fatalities in Thailand 2016: 65 per day.

Population of Thailand  2106: 67,000,000

23725 deaths / 67,000,000 citizens - 0.000354104

 

Let strip off the zeros

Thailand 0.000354104 d per c / EU 0.000034879 d per c -= 10.152368979 deaths per citizen per year as compared for each 1 death per citizen per year in the EU. 

Thailand death rate per citizen is 10 time that of the EU. 

Those 'deaths per day' stats do not mean anything until compared to the entire population. 

Maybe may math sucks.  Maybe not.

Edited January 24, 2018 by connda