Officials in Thailand Determined to Lower Traffic Fatalities by 80% in Five Years

In 2014 an accident involving 18 cars on Mittaparb Road in Saraburi province on Wednesday killed three and injured some 20 others.

The determination was announced after the department joined other relevant private sector’s networks yesterday in a campaign to reduce traffic fatality rates.

It determined to lower by 80% in five years, although the World Health Organization (WHO) requires member states to lower fatality rates by half under the “Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety.”

Thailand ranked the second highest road fatality rate in the world after Libya.

According to WHO’s  2015 Global Status Report on Road Safety, a total of 14,059 were killed on Thai roads and highways in 2012, translating to a road death rate of 36.2 people per 100,000, a rate only surpassed by war-torn Libya, where 73.4 people per 100,000 died that same year.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said although Thailand came second in highest road fatality rates, but in term of motorcycle fatality rates, Thailand was on the top in the world.

It said motorcycle death rate in Thailand is 26.3 people per 100,000, causing over 200 billion baht damages in term of economy.

It said although Thailand has entered the fifth year after the United Nations has announced the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, the country still saw no improvement in road fatalities.

For the remaining five years, Thailand will seriously and strictly enforce the laws to achieve the 80% target as now that the road fatality issue was placed as a national agenda and law enforcement will be tightened.