THE CAR-CRASH STATS THAT SHAME THAILAND

The horrific collision involving a passenger van and a pickup truck on Highway 344 in Chon Buri’s Ban Bung district last Monday, which killed 25 people, emphasises the country’s disrepute concerning its dangerous roads.

It was the worst incident over the New Year period. The latest report of the government’s Road Safety Directing Centre showed the sad statistics that total fatalities during the New Year holidays have risen over past years.

The record showed between Dec 29 and Jan 3, 426 people died while 3,761 people were injured in 3,579 accidents, increasing 12% from 380 fatalities during the same period last year. In turn, last year’s fatalities increased 11% from the 340 people who died of road accidents in 2014.

This year, Chon Buri was the province with the most fatalities, with 33 deaths, while Udon Thani was the province with the most road accidents.

The rising fatalities show the complete failure of the government’s road safety campaign. Every year the government announces its ambition to reduce the total number of road accidents and fatalities, but the truth is it hasn’t worked.

Instead of launching the “Seven Dangerous Days” campaign at every New Year and Songkran, the government should find a permanent solution to the country’s roadsafety issues.

The simple act which could be done immediately is to seriously enforce the law.

According to the global status report on road safety from the World Health Organization in 2015, Thailand scored three out of 10 for effectiveness of law enforcement on speed limits.

The maximum urban speed limit is 80kmph while the rural speed limit is 90kph. The maximum speed is 120kph for motorways.

But most drivers ignore the speed limits until they see police checkpoints or traffic policemen. And even if they are caught redhanded, drivers know they can negotiate their way out instead of paying the maximum fine of 400 baht.

Based on the statistics of the Road Safety Directing Centre from 2013-2016, speeding drivers were the major reason for fatalities and injuries, accounting for 70% of road accidents.

If one drives a car at a speed of 100kph and suddenly hits the breaks, the stopping distance of the car will be at least 80m. Imagine the stopping distance for over 120kph — one can’t stop the car in time to prevent any possible collision.

In fact, the report of the WHO showed that a 5% cut in average speed can result in a 30% reduction in the number of fatal crashes. It means 89 lives could have been saved from fatalities due to speeding drivers this year.

Immediate action is needed. It is like when a patient is bleeding, a doctor will instantly try to stop the blood loss. So it is with the problem of road safety; traffic policemen should try to stop those who drive cars over the speed limit right away as driving over the speed limit can cause fatalities, as can drunk driving.

The efficiency of law enforcement on drunk driving in Thailand is not good enough. The score was six out of 10. For more than two years, the National Committee for Peace and Order has continued the use of Section 44 to allow police to temporarily seize vehicles and licences of drunk drivers during the long holidays — at least 4,000 vehicles, about three fourths being motorcycles, were seized each year.

The total number of people who were caught because of traffic violations also rose 52%, from 38,865 during last New Year holidays to 59,057 this year.

Those violations include the classic problems such as not fastening a seat belt and not wearing helmets, although people know that this equipment could save their lives or protect them from possible injury if there is an accident. For example, wearing a seat belt can reduce the risk of a fatal injury by up to 50% for front seat occupants and up to 75% for rear seat passengers, while wearing a motorcycle helmet can reduce risk of death up to 40%, and reduce the risk of severe injury by 70%.

However, many drivers always take traffic regulations for granted just to make things easy for them. Although awareness of road safety should be a personal responsibility, we always have the attitude of mai pen rai as it is only a “short drive”. Many times, I see people drive their motorcycles or cars in the wrong direction on a hard shoulder. Some drivers like to speed up their cars after an ambulance just because they want to go faster than others. Other drivers use an emergency lane as if it was an express lane to avoid traffic. It is even worse when traffic policemen are the ones who encourage the drivers to use the emergency lane on expressways in order to ease traffic congestion.

When rules are applied only when it’s convenient, then the efficiency of law enforcement is always poor. Change must come. There is no time for delay.

We always have the attitude of mai pen rai as it is only a ‘short drive’

Karnjana Karnjanatawe is a travel writer of the Life section of the Bangkok-Post.