Bad drivers hurt everyone
Aiming to prevent potential horrendous and fatal road accidents during the upcoming Songkran holidays, the government has come up with a number of new legal measures. Last Tuesday, its new order imposing harsher punishments on traffic law violators took effect, mainly focusing on the use of seat belts and collecting fines from traffic law violators.
This new order, issued under Section 44 of the interim charter, shows an intention by the authorities to curb the country’s notorious road death toll. But imposing harsher punishments alone will not work. The government needs to come up with a more integrated plan with specific measures to better deal with other greater risks: reckless and drunk driving.
In particular, the order expands the seat-belt requirement to cover all passengers of four-wheel vehicles and public buses and vans, and imposes fines on violators. Traffic violators who have not paid their tickets will also see their car tax payments temporarily suspended as the police will sync their information with the database of the land transport authorities.
As it takes immediate effect, the order makes matters more complicated. It does not provide sufficient time for taxis, buses and vans to modify their vehicles and equip them with seat belts. It also gives exemptions to certain types of vehicles, such as taxi cars registered before 2002. The order also keeps one danger on the roads as it does not ban pickup trucks from seating passengers on the floor of the cargo cabin — a key factor in road fatalities.
These measures, at a certain level, may help ensure safety for drivers and passengers. Nonetheless, the government needs to look beyond imposing stricter penalties because many violators still find it affordable to pay their traffic fines and then break the rules again. Effective public campaigning is needed to ensure road users are aware of the potentially fatal consequences of their recklessness.
In addition, collecting small fines from motorists and motorcyclists who break minor traffic regulations alone may not help dramatically cut accidents as long as the police do not prioritise law enforcement to curb drunk and dangerous driving.
Thailand has the second-highest road traffic fatality rate in the world at 36.2 per 100,000 population, according to the World Health Organisation. Since three-quarters of the more than 24,000 road fatalities a year involve motorcyclists and their passengers, the authorities need to focus more on this group, making sure use of helmets is non-negotiable and riders refrain from reckless behaviour.
Having police officers patrolling all roads all the times is impossible. Public awareness and attitude changes are needed to change the mindset of road users. Thailand has implemented a robust anti-smoking campaign showing disturbing images of what can happen to smokers. The state needs to invest more in road-safety campaigning, making it as horrific as the anti-smoking effort.
More importantly, while these and other new measures have been introduced, little has been done to ensure the safety of children. The seat-belt and helmet-use requirement must also be applied to them, so that their parents are held responsible for their children’s safety on the roads.
The country also lacks proper auditing and inspection of road conditions to ensure they are safe for all road users.
Solving the problem is a delicate matter that requires a long-term approach, effective law enforcement and continuous public campaigning.
To avoid more horrendous accidents every year, motorists and motorcyclists need to be reminded that dangerous driving and traffic violations harm not only themselves, but innocent people too.
Imposing harsher punishments alone will not work.