‘seven days of danger’ road safety campaign, Phuket's summary.

Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0

Quoted from the Phuket Gazette:

"PHUKET: The nationwide Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign ended at midnight last night with three more deaths on Phuket’s roads than during last year's safety efforts, but far fewer accidents reported.

Nine deaths and 24 injuries in a total of 27 accidents were recorded by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket branch (DDPM-Phuket). Last year, six people died and 80 were reported injured in 75 accidents.

Though Phuket failed to meet its goal of zero road deaths during the campaign, it did achieve its other goal of decreasing the number of road accidents by at least five per cent.

The top causes of accidents and casualties were drunk driving, speeding and not wearing helmets, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut said once the campaign came to a close.

Gov Maitri vowed to improve public awareness about the need to wear helmets.

Eight of those who died during the campaign were on motorbikes at the time of the accident; only one was in a car.

Four deaths were attributed to losing control of the vehicle; three accidents involved a collision with a truck."



"Across all of Thailand, the death toll was a massive 365 people, with 3329 injured in 3176 crashes.


The death toll was up by 29, or 8.63 percent. Phuket was statistically much, much worse than that." :thumbdown:

Success?? or fail?? Who knows, your guess is as good as mine! How did your province do?

I would estimate 20% of Thais wear helmets & maybe 30% of farangs are wearing helmets. Driving on the wrong side of the road & jumping red lights are a regular problem, with tailgating & undertaking also a dangerous occurrence. To name but a few bad habits! Pot holes/bad road repaires & poorly maintained bikes/cars/trucks is a problem as well.

On average 13,000 people per year die on Thai roads.....To put into perceptive my home country of the UK with a similar population averages around 2,800 per year! The Uk rates at number 180 out of 192 countries, which is a surprise to me! :thumbup:

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country

286309=14136-www.worldlifeexpectancy.com.jpg

286309=14137-www.worldlifeexpectancy.com2.jpg

286309=14138-www.worldlifeexpectancy.com3.jpg


I was amazed when I stumbled across a website that rates Thailand as number 6 highest road accidents in the world, out of 192 rated countries!!! Safely nestled between Iran & Congo.

Basically folks keep your wits about you, don't get complacent riding on Thai roads.....let's hope these chilling stats aren't as high for 2013.

Good luck & safe riding :D
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
brake034;286343 wrote: About 65 million people, die 43 per 100.000 per year.
So, 65 million devide by 100.000 times 43 devide by 365 days per year: 42 deaths per day?
Your math is correct & the website stats does equal 42 per day! btw i got the 13,000 from Wikipedia.

35 or 42 are shocking numbers either way!

Don't get me wrong, i love riding my bike in Thailand & i'm always going to fast but i'm hoping 25years of hard riding in the UK with 3 years under my belt as a London dispatch courier rider help keep me alive here. Experience helps but it doesn't make anyone including me immune from a hard spill.

I recon most people would think differently about renting a bike in Iran or the Congo & riding around drunk with no helmet on.....lol

Coz those statistics are shocking & prove how dangerous it can be for tourists & or new expats that have never riden a bike before coming to the LOS. :happy2:
 

feejer

0
Feb 16, 2007
444
2
18
brake034;286350 wrote: But I do not like to drive during dark.
IMO this is a key point. In my experience in Thailand and SEA in general, riding at night is beyond a reasonable risk. When you combine all of the hazards (sleeping dogs, people walking, road defects/poor design, poor lighting, intoxicated riders/drivers etc) and the lack of visibility, the probability of getting messed up probably goes up 3-4X. I wish they would split the stats between daylight and evening deaths for a comparo.
 
Oct 20, 2012
217
1
18
Wow thats really shocked me i work on mexico and i will not ride a motorcycle here as i thought it was a lot more dangerous than Thailand, the company have bought us all large sturdy pickups with protection bars and i still feel vulnerable on the roads, as they are far more aggressive here on the roads. I totally agree about riding at night as my main concern is the dogs, i dont know about where in Thailand you live but by Phontong the roads are very quiet at night and the drunk drivers are usually finished by 7 o clock i think in the major towns this may be different . i will certainly respect Thai roads more now, i wonder how many deaths where preventable if they wore helmets,,
 
Oct 17, 2006
1,824
38
48
It is a source of Shame to many Thais that they are not top of the list , it would give them a sense of pride for Thailand to be number one in the list of most road deaths so many Thais happily ride and drive in a fashion guaranteed to get thailand into number one spot again.
at least the country would be number one for something and have some thing else to celebrate .
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
brake034;286350 wrote: Right, now let us look at the perspective: how many sweep up jobs did you see in action?
Personally, during 25 years visiting Thailand, I saw one.
But I do not like to drive during dark.
I don't like riding long distances at night either .....unfamiliar roads hazards, dogs, kids racing on scooters & drunks in trucks etc! It does take extra concentration & certainly feels 3x or 4x more dangerous. But locally i regularly ride at night.

If by sweep up jobs, you mean witness roadside accidents? I see on average 3 -4 wipeouts per week. Or should i say smashed bikes & people lying in the middle of the road....usually only dented egos & minor cuts n scratches with repairable bikes! 9 accidents witnessed in a week is my record (that was about 3 months ago). In the last year i have thankfully only seen 2 obviously dead riders lying in the street with tons of locals gathered round waiting for police/ambulance to turn up. Those 2 horrific images will be etched on my memory for ever.

jimbobs, Wow thats really shocked me i work on mexico and i will not ride a motorcycle here as i thought it was a lot more dangerous than Thailand,
Mexico rates a very civilized 119 out of 192 countries....who the hell would believe that possible!
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
monsterman;286362 wrote: It is a source of Shame to many Thais that they are not top of the list , it would give them a sense of pride for Thailand to be number one in the list of most road deaths so many Thais happily ride and drive in a fashion guaranteed to get thailand into number one spot again.
at least the country would be number one for something and have some thing else to celebrate .
5555, i like it.....Thailand must be No.1 on the road death list!! Chok dee

Maybe all the new trucks & cars on the roads from the buy your first car & get the tax back incentive should boost the death toll figures with many thousands of new blithering idiots at the wheels their new vehicles aimlessly weaving thru the streets.
 
Oct 20, 2012
217
1
18
Ime guilty of that my wife had never driven a car in her life shes 30 years old, i hired a car for 2 days, and we got a new car on christmas day,,shes done 600 kms in it already, no license ,,,went and bought the best baby seat i could find,,but its safer than her riding the honda wave with the kids on it which i suspect she did use when ime away, as she will not walk anywhere over a 100 yards,the buggy i bought has still got brand new wheels,i really believe they dont see the danger of putting babys and children on these mopeds if they ride slowly,,,it freaks me out.
 
Oct 20, 2012
217
1
18
I speak to my wife daily about this as i have learned alot off this forum and i have told her to get this sorted before i get back, i have been told by her that no one in her family has a license and she does not think anyone in the village has a license either, it seems to be the norm up country,
I have hired many motorcycles in Pattaya and never given my license or passport over many years of bike hire, it actually never occured to me.
I am in the middle of building a house , do you think it would be possible to obtain a license as i ride my versys without a motorcycle license an i have only got my Mexican car license as i have lost my UK one,also i come home to LOS after my rotation from work is finished (8 week Mexico - 3 weeks in LOS ) so i only use a 30 day tourist visa.I have looked at previous posts on this and you need a resident visa i think,,,,any advise on this would be welcome
 

KZ25

0
Nov 19, 2011
805
0
0
I wouldn't worry much about a license for your wife. Like you said most locals ride without one.

Getting a license makes as much sense as wearing one of these cheap plastic helmets - it may look good and saves you some money but it doesn't really address the problem.
 
Dec 27, 2007
3,854
18
38
jimbobs;286385 wrote: I speak to my wife daily about this as i have learned alot off this forum and i have told her to get this sorted before i get back, i have been told by her that no one in her family has a license and she does not think anyone in the village has a license either, it seems to be the norm up country,
I have hired many motorcycles in Pattaya and never given my license or passport over many years of bike hire, it actually never occured to me.
I am in the middle of building a house , do you think it would be possible to obtain a license as i ride my versys without a motorcycle license an i have only got my Mexican car license as i have lost my UK one,also i come home to LOS after my rotation from work is finished (8 week Mexico - 3 weeks in LOS ) so i only use a 30 day tourist visa.I have looked at previous posts on this and you need a resident visa i think,,,,any advise on this would be welcome
At many Land Transport offices you can, with a bit of help from a local "facilitator", simply buy a drivers license. That's what my gf did after failing the drivers test 3 times in a row. It was funny because she didn't know she could buy one, but one of the "facilitators" approached her after the third fail and clued her in. This might be an option for you.

Otherwise, as long as you have a valid license from another country, this is usually accepted in Thailand if you are on a tourist visa. I don't know what the Thai law actually says about this, but I've heard many claim on another forum that a valid foreign license is legal in Thailand. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't...
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
KZ25;286388 wrote: I wouldn't worry much about a license for your wife. Like you said most locals ride without one.

Getting a license makes as much sense as wearing one of these cheap plastic helmets - it may look good and saves you some money but it doesn't really address the problem.
I kinda agree with this. What happens in the village stays in the village & the local police usually sort out the appropriate paperwork for local accidents!!

A friend of mine with a Thai girlfriend was recommended a driving school (well a man who owned a truck) that never fails with a student. We laughingly called this guy Khun Maverwick from the Top Gun driving academy.......It took 26 lessons & 4 attempts at the test & good to his word she eventually scraped through the test & got the converted Thai driving license. ;)

This basically consisted of her driving very badly to a big empty wasteland & him setting up some obstacles & trying to emulate as many of the hazards in the driving test as possible!! While eating lunch they looked at a photocopy of 50 most usual questions & answers that are in the exam, which she memorized with no explanation!! One year later she is still a crap driver & has had many little fender benders & countless big near misses. She is one of the better drivers in Thailand btw as she doesn't drink & drive but she will not stop for red traffic lights & is always wandering dangerously across traffic lanes while answering text messages at the wheel .....hence the 13,000 road deaths a year.
 

Muzz

0
Mar 27, 2007
308
0
0
I have had a few spills here over the years, but this time of the year I stay home. I think Chianf Mai has the worst death rate, I think the fatalities here almost hit the magic Ton this holiday season. Look out Chinese new year and Sonkran, here we come.....
 

roj

0
May 29, 2012
3
0
0
Thailand only counts those who die at the scene of an accident. The World Health Organisation claims that the true figure is double the Thai government statistics. Motorcyclists account for 80% of the deaths.
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
roj;286405 wrote: Thailand only counts those who die at the scene of an accident. The World Health Organization claims that the true figure is double the Thai government statistics. Motorcyclists account for 80% of the deaths.
Your correct Roj, Thailand has maniputed their death stats by only counting a road side death!! The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates numbers as high as 30% more deaths than the 13,000 I quoted from Wikipedia.....way worse than I originally thought! :thumbdown:

Could only find data from 2007 by The World Health Organization.

286464=14188-Thailand%20accidents.jpg



"WHO" urges Thailand to enforce traffic laws due to increasing death toll (youtube)



I personally have been driving/riding in Thailand for over 5 years & until now had no real concept about these ridiculously high accident statistics. It was reading about the ‘seven days of danger’ road safety campaign in my local paper, that made me do some online research.

Sorry this thread has gone a bit doom & gloom but if it makes anyone take a little more care on the streets of Thailand, as they are pretty damn dangerous compared to 95% of any other countries in the world. Still a great country to go riding.....but be careful out there folks! :thumbup:
 
Dec 20, 2012
1
0
0
Well I live in Malaysia, I'm European, and have walked, ridden, or drove in most countries of South East Asia. And yes they do-not adhere our Western forms of ROAD rules. And YES its dangerous. So far I've been lucky(touch wood). However this dose not stop me from my passion of riding, actually this enhances it, not know whats around the corner. Admittedly I don't normally ride long journeys at night unless I know the roads and road condition our if I'm on a Group ride, this also applies even to roads around New Zealand and Australia. Each and every country I've ridden, walked, or Drove in have there on fo-pars so if you use COMMON SENSE, good road adequate, and assimilablate yourself into the motor driving culture of the country your in you'll survive. Be positive and always RIDE SAFE:happy1:
 
Aug 29, 2011
259
0
0
brake034;286513 wrote: Video by Presstv out of Iran?? Iran is 5th in the list and Thailand 6th?! Maybe they tried to improve Iranian driving by learning from the runner up?
Well spotted brake034, I was searching for world health organization videos & this little gem showed up by Iran the No.5 country lol .......the barefaced cheek of it!!! 555