Daily road deaths in Thailand compared to Covid deaths

[zombie nights]

"about 56 deaths a day

 

Thailand's roads are the deadliest in Southeast Asia and among the worst in the world, according to the World Health Organisation. About 20,000 people die in road accidents each year, or about 56 deaths a day.Nov 11, 2563 BE"

 

-Google

 

Covid:

"The government on Wednesday reported a record daily high of 34"

 

Bangkok post

 

Question: so what conclusions if any to draw from this comparison?

 

[Jeffr2]

Totally ridiculous to try and compare covid to highway fatalities. Though many covid deniers try.

[cclub75]

9 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Totally ridiculous to try and compare covid to highway fatalities. Though many covid deniers try.

 

And it's totally ridiculous to try to deny it...

 

Why such comparisons are useful ?

 

They give perspectives.

 

They give the people a way to assess life and death, risks.

 

Every thai family knows someone who died or had been wounded in a car accident, right ?

 

Karma they say....

 

Now... when we talk about the terrible Sars Cov 2 virus... we can assess the risk by looking at the mortality of other disaster.

 

I know, hold your horses, a car accident is not an "infectious disease"... But you see that's the point you miss : we do not compare nature... we compare "scale" and "magnitude" and "perspectives".

 

Furthermore, it helps to deciper and understand our society.

 

Road accident kill thousands of young people, and break the life of thousands others (wounded).

 

Sars Cov 2 kills a few hundred old and sick people.

 

Therefore it's interesting to compare not numbers anymore... but public policies and individual behaviors.

 

I mean : we have to be curious, right ? You do want to understand the world we live in, isn'it ?

[Peterw42]

OP, you cant catch a rod accident, they are not contagious. 

[Jeffr2]

6 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, you cant catch a rod accident, they are not contagious. 

Well put. Some just don't get it.

[Ryan754326]

3 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Well put. Some just don't get it.

You’re right, I don’t get it. 
 

Road accidents aren’t contagious, but they are often a random occurrence. You can’t catch a road accident, and you can’t be involved in one if you never drive, but you can still get hit by a car while you’re walking down the sidewalk. 

The only way anyone can guarantee that they stay safe is to avoid roads altogether, which doesn’t seem like a very realistic thing to try to do. 

Road accidents kill a lot of people in Thailand every year. Covid has killed relatively few in Thailand, yet you still see families of four on a motorcycle; all of them wearing masks, but none of them wearing helmets. 
 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Ryan754326

[Jeffr2]

Hospitals get overrun due to covid. Just look at the US, Brazil, Italy, India, etc, etc etc.

 

Hospitals do not get overrun due to road accidents.

 

Again, impossible to compare the two. For a variety of reasons.

 

Road fatalities in the US, about 40,000 per year. Covid deaths, almost 600k. An counting.

[Ryan754326]

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

Hospitals get overrun due to covid. Just look at the US, Brazil, Italy, India, etc, etc etc.

 

Hospitals do not get overrun due to road accidents.

 

Again, impossible to compare the two. For a variety of reasons.

 

Road fatalities in the US, about 40,000 per year. Covid deaths, almost 600k. An counting.

That’s a perfectly fair point. I have no objection to restrictions when case numbers are high and hospitals risk being overwhelmed. What I disagree with is the one size fits all approach to restrictions, even when cases are basically at zero in a given area, as well as all the silly stuff, like having to wear a mask into a restaurant, only to take it off as soon as I sit down at a table. 

[Thomas J]

5 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, you cant catch a rod accident, they are not contagious. 

No and you can't avoid the dangerous or drunk driver on the road that hits and kills you either.  From a purely statistical point of view, you are more likely to be seriously injured or killed driving on a Thai road, than you are catching Covid.  And even if you do having serious illness or death as a result from it. 

95% of people contracting Covid don't even require hospitalization.  I don't know the figure for traffic accidents but I doubt that it is close to 95% 

[Thomas J]

7 hours ago, zombie nights said:

"about 56 deaths a day

 

Thailand's roads are the deadliest in Southeast Asia and among the worst in the world, according to the World Health Organisation. About 20,000 people die in road accidents each year, or about 56 deaths a day.Nov 11, 2563 BE"

You are entirely correct in drawing the comparison.  For decades over 20,000 people have died on Thailand's highways each year.  A substantial percentage of the accidents and deaths can be attributed to drug and alcohol use.  However unlike Covid where the government has put draconian measures to curtail the deaths, those from traffic accidents have become "normal" so nothing is done. 

I hear those people say, oh but Covid measures protect the public from contracting Covid and it is a pandemic.  Well 20,000 deaths annually is a pandemic, and just like you don't choose to get Covid, you don't have a choice if some reckless or impaired driver runs into you and kills you either. 

If there were tourist attractions that were dangerous and people were killed such as what happened when the tourist boat capsized and Chinese tourists were killed, the government would jump into action forcing stricter oversight because of its negative impact on tourism.  However, the response to Covid has not just impacted tourism, it has killed it.  Now I don't wish to single out just Thailand.  For whatever reason the media and world governments have beat the drums about Covid around the globe.  Is it serious yes.  However is the 'cure" of killing the economy, destroying peoples businesses, forcing people into insolvency are those measures even worse. 

The bottom line still is 95% of people who contract Covid don't even require hospitalization.  I am sure that is not true for traffic accidents.  The vast majority of those who are hospitalized recover.  Who is at risk.  The older you are, the more you are at risk. Those who are obese, have other pre-existing diseases are especially at risk.  So if you are going to restrain anyone, it should be the activities of those who are most at risk and let the remainder go back to work and re-open the economy. 

[Heng]

The ol' *most people don't get murdered, so what's with all the murder rules?* school of thought.

[cdemundo]

8 hours ago, zombie nights said:

Question: so what conclusions if any to draw from this comparison?

Death bad.

Life good.

Avoid death.

[cdnvic]

This adds nothing to the Covid19 discussion except to attempt to downplay it's seriousness by comparing it to other dangers. It's all too common these days. It's not a contest, and the fact that people die from other things does not diminish the seriousness of Covid.