Over 2,000 killed and 130,000 injured on Thailand’s roads in 2021

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Thailand’s Road Safety Collaboration, a non-departmental body aimed at improving road safety in the country, 2,047 people have been killed and 131,282 people injured on Thailand’s road since the turn of the year.

Memo to "collaboration" try something different, the last 10 years or more hasn't worked.

[Surasak]

10 minutes ago, Locked in Ozzie said:

You cannot vaccinate against stupidity.

Perfectly true, but you can educate to eradicate most of it.

[ChrisKC]

And what is anybody (who should) be doing about it? The answer, is nothing of any use, not this year, or last year, or the year before that and for the last 20 years.

 

I condemn this government and those predecessors whose irresponsibility and inaction are the cause of these awful numbers.

 

What hurts me the most is that this serious matter will will not be properly addressed and the death and suffering will continue.

 

[Jimbo2014]

The annual carnage fest is just kicking off.  Make no mistake, Thailand has the most dangerous roads in the world.  They drive like absolute nutters.  The average 'Crackdown' last for about 5 days before everyone looses interest and goes back to their desks.  Meanwhile the carnage continues on the roads, the burning continues in the fields, the plastic continues on the beaches... etc.

[Henryford]

Unbelievable when you think road accidents kill more in a single day than Covid has in a year. And look at all the fuss made about Covid.

[ChakaKhan]

25 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Memo to "collaboration" try something different, the last 10 years or more hasn't worked.

Amulets for All!!!...... Problem solved.....Done and done

[Surelynot]

22 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Unbelievable when you think road accidents kill more in a single day than Covid has in a year. And look at all the fuss made about Covid.

Road accidents are contagious?

Edited February 17, 2021 by Surelynot

[SamuiFan]

The country is on its knees due to Covid and yet nothing ever happens to enforce laws on driving. I see kids of 9 or 10 driving recklessly in Samui, without helmets - it’s madness. Why are there no laws on mandatory driving tests and age limits????? This carnage will continue until laws are made and enforced to prevent accidents. 

[SwampyThai]

Almost 2,800 injured every day, that's 2 every minute! Thankfully 'er indoors' has learnt that the mirrors on her scooter are for checking behind you and not for checking personal appearance, she now understands that  everyone else is probably a drunken fool and the 8 year old kids 3 up on a scooter are to be given a wide birth, she even understands and uses those flashing orange lights before she turns and checks her mirrors, but it still scares the <deleted> out of me when she is riding due to the other ignorant, selfish, dangerous stupid fools. Thailand, 3rd world country, 3rd world mentality.

[Bim Smith]

My friend last week was part of that statistic. Left behind a pregnant wife and young daughter. The only thing I hate about living here and why I rarely venture out and hate my wife going out on the roads. It is truly insane. 

[nickmondo]

yes, getting a medical certificate.

test for colour blindness, etc.

yes, thats all thats needed here to improve the numbers.  

Congratulations Thailand, you have found the secret to safe driving!!!!

ha ha

[shackleton]

This subject is discussed quite often here on Thai Visa nothing changes except the number of injured and deaths  increases

Solutions are given makes no difference most are not acted on or  enforced by the traffic police 

[Markus Rider]

haha I like that.... I am sure that raising the speed limit from 90 to 120 km/h will further help to decrease the death toll.... and instead of a colorblind test, they would rather check if the person is not completely blind......

[phichay]

A nationwide lockdown of all drivers required. Time to get the old khwai out of the field and back on the road for a trip down to the shops.

[ChrisKC]

12 minutes ago, jvs said:

Two days ago i was driving in the right hand lane ,the lane for going straight and turning right.

In the left lane was a taxi pick-up and he wanted to turn right also,he came over in my lane and

i honked the horn to warn him.

What did he do?a sharp turn to the right and of course i could not avoid a collision.

He parked near the police box and got out to talk to the police,then the police came out and

started yelling at me,it was my fault and i (farang) did not know how to drive.

I told him i have it all on camera and we already called the insurance company.

After the Insurance agent came we decided to go to the police station and use their camera

for evidence.

The taxi driver was all happy about that and he kept going on about farang can not drive etc.

After an officer looked at the video he came back and told us this case was very clear.

The taxi driver beamed!This was his moment!Until the officer told him he was totally wrong!

He was not happy at all and started yelling and pointing,he was not to be proved wrong!

A higher up officer then told him to be quiet and explained what he did wrong.

He still did not accept it!

He got fined four hundred baht for changing lanes when not safe and he gets to pay for the damage out of his pocket(no insurance)

Now if he would have gotten out of his vehicle and said,'sorry i was wrong and can we solve this as friends',i would have.

Moral of the story,he probably has been driving like this most of his life and never learned the traffic rules.

He refused to even look at me after all was said and done,i get it he lost face but why all the drama?

Had i been on a motorbike i probably would have been dead.

Still lots of room for improvement over here.

 

Second only to the other "happy ending"

Edited February 17, 2021 by ChrisKC
typo

[CM Dad]

The vast majority of accidents and deaths on Thailand's roads are caused by speeding, following to closely, and alcohol.  In addition, the majority of the drivers at fault, injured, and killed are NOT older drivers, but are those under the age of fifty.  Medical certificates and tests such as those already given will NOT make any difference.  What is needed is simply enforcement of existing driving rules by traffic police.

[OldPedro]

Not wishing to be a smart-<deleted>, but the solution seems obvious: if most of the deaths occur with motorcycles (up to 80%?) then concentrate on motorcycle safety. All it takes is enforcement : compulsory helmets; minimum age for riders, compulsory drivers license; and obeying traffic rules, eg not running red lights, riding against traffic  etc etc......and enforcing fines or impounding bikes.Could be unpopular but might cut the road toll by 50%.

[Madeline Thompson]

17 hours ago, djayz said:

Me too!

Me too!

[jvs]

4 minutes ago, OldPedro said:

Not wishing to be a smart-<deleted>, but the solution seems obvious: if most of the deaths occur with motorcycles (up to 80%?) then concentrate on motorcycle safety. All it takes is enforcement : compulsory helmets; minimum age for riders, compulsory drivers license; and obeying traffic rules, eg not running red lights, riding against traffic  etc etc......and enforcing fines or impounding bikes.Could be unpopular but might cut the road toll by 50%.

You are probably right,a lot of deaths could be avoided that way.

The problem is however how to enforce?Of course the police can do a lot better job if the would

act when they see a rule being disobeyed.

I think a lot of accidents happen where there is never any police around and i am talking about a lot of small villages and rural roads,any thing goes over there!

[AlQaholic]

15 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

It cannot be down to the person who buys the car.

I bought a car for my wife.

People buy cars for their kids.

It is the insurance companies that should ask to see the licences of the drivers.

More than 80% of accidents are by motorcycles, and usually caused by the motorcycle driver. With the rapid increase in Big Bikes, that may have a role in the high numbers.

[Khun Paul]

UNTIL the Government of the day, osrts out the inefficient POLICE and makes them do the job theyt are employed to do which includes ENFORCEMENT impartially, nothing will ever change. 

They could be a light at the end of this dark morbid tunnel, MAKE Insurance Companies ( including Porobor ) demand Driver Licence details of all drivers for every mechanically propelled vehicle. Then at least that would be a step in the right direction, or else many Thais will find themselves i9n serious trouble with horrendous bills.  Due to their own stupidity 

[TheFishman1]

The only count if you die at the scene of the accident on the road everybody here knows that real numbers will never really know T IT

[RichardColeman]

To me , a more frightening statistic would be at that rate of 20,000 a year, every 25 years they are responsible for killing half a million of each other. Absolute loonies.

[PatOngo]

7 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

To me , a more frightening statistic would be at that rate of 20,000 a year, every 25 years they are responsible for killing half a million of each other. Absolute loonies.

I wonder what Buddha would think?

[RichardColeman]

1 minute ago, PatOngo said:

I wonder what Buddha would think?

You're not buying enough amulets would be my guess

[PatOngo]

10 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

You're not buying enough amulets would be my guess

That's a Thai Buddhist thing, not a real Buddhist thing!

[PumpkinEater]

On Samui people drive WAY too fast!

CARS AND TRUCKS passing on blind curves and EXPECTING the motorbike to yield off the side of the road!

Both farang and Thais guilty of this insane behavior.

 

My biggist fear in Thailand...the other guy crashing into me!

 

 

[slammma]

According to traffic death statistics by country from Wikipedia, which has data compiled from various sources including the WHO, Thailand does indeed have the worst road fatality stats in Asia. Per 100k inhabitants, 32.7 people die every year. With a population of 70M, that's 22,890 road deaths per year, and it is unclear if that includes death in the ambulance on the way to the hospital or shortly after arrival. Here are the stats for SE Asia:

 

I included Hong Kong, which is not in SE Asia, but has the lowest road fatalities in Asia, and just about the lowest in the world. Given the urgency of this crisis, a sober approach to mitigating the carnage would be to see how our neighbors manage public road safety. It is startling to see that Cambodia has half the fatalities. Thailand is a wealthier and likely more educated country than Cambodia, so I strongly doubt that intelligence or poverty are the driving factors to Thai roads soaking in blood. Something else is going on and it is incumbent upon the government to figure it out. Start with a thorough review of how it's done properly in Hong Kong, Singapore, and even the Philippines, which has 1/3 the carnage.

[Chongalulu]

15 hours ago, 2112 said:

Don’t engage in ethnocentrism if you can. It’s ugly and makes you look like a fool to the locals. Your culture isn’t “better” than theirs. Regardless of 10 people on a scooter. It’s their way of life...leave them to it. 

It’s their way of DEATH - There,fixed it for you...

[Chongalulu]

5 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

So why all the concern about getting medical certificates? Do the statistics of those involved in road crashes indicate that the drivers were medically disadvantaged? If not, then this is a total waste of time and just another distraction to take the eyes off the real problems with Thai drivers. 

Of course it is a sham. Look,let’s just say what it is - the authorities don’t care ,will make some ineffective noises to pretend occasionally and the populace are too thick to understand how to drive safely. No more Groundhog Day articles like this eh?