Thailand's roads are still deadly

According to the Thailand Road Accident Data Center, 14,737 people lost their lives and 924,799 were injured on the road in 2022.

An editorial from the Bangkok Post:

On a Friday evening in Samut Sakhon province, a fatal collision resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man and serious injuries to an 18-year-old.

What caused the accident?

This time, it wasn't drunk driving or a fast car, but a poorly lit bend, which a local official blamed for frequent accidents.

The fatal accident is just a news item.

It is not uncommon to hear stories of fatal accidents on a daily basis.

But why are these accidents so frequent?

It's no secret that Thailand is one of the countries with the highest number of fatal road accidents.

See: Why are Thailand's roads among the deadliest in the world?

In 2021, the World Health Organization reported that road traffic accidents in Thailand accounted for nearly 33% of total deaths.

Reckless driving behavior, lack of education, lack of enforcement, and road infrastructure problems have all been identified as major barriers to change, and current efforts to make roads safer appear to have had little effect.

So perhaps it's time to take a more holistic approach and tackle every factor that can make driving dangerous, such as poorly lit roads and vehicles driving on roads without working taillights.

Earlier this year, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt pledged to make Bangkok's streets brighter by replacing 25,000 of the 400,000 high-pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs with light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

LEDs are brighter than HPS bulbs while consuming less energy.

They can be programmed to focus light in specific directions, helping to enhance brightness in targeted areas.

One of the reasons so few lamps are replaced is their cost.

Depending on the quality and specifications of an LED lamp, replacing a lamp can cost between 3,000 and 10,000 baht, not including costs for wiring, labor, or any other infrastructure improvements.

The project is still ongoing, but unfortunately, replacing just 25,000 lamps, mostly located on major arteries such as Phloenchit Road or Rama IV Road, from Hua Lamphong to Lumphini, will not be enough to drastically reduce the number of fatal accidents.

This is more of a vanity project, as even within Bangkok there are still vast stretches of suburban roads, where speeds are higher, without any street lighting infrastructure.

Drivers therefore only have their headlights to drive safely.

While it is understandable that budgets are limited and a renovation cannot be done overnight, it would have been more sensible for the local government to first replace the lights or install additional light poles in areas with the highest accident rates.

A quick glance at its database of traffic incident reports would be enough to locate these locations.

To address potential funding issues, the government should also consider partnerships with private entities that can invest in energy-efficient lighting solutions.

This would accelerate the transition and ensure a more comprehensive and rapid improvement of lighting conditions in the city.

Another crucial aspect of improving road safety is strengthening enforcement of regulations regarding vehicles driving without tail lights.

Tinted windows are common among car owners in Thailand because they offer daytime benefits such as heat and UV protection, reduced sun glare, and improved privacy and security.

However, tinted windows also reduce visibility at night, making already limited visibility on the roads worse.

It is not uncommon for drivers to only become aware of another vehicle when it is dangerously close or often too late to take corrective action when driving at high speeds.

This is why strict measures must be taken against offenders, with nighttime checkpoints that go beyond cracking down on crime and cracking down on drunk driving.

To make roads safer, multiple agencies and stakeholders, including state agencies, local communities, and road safety experts, must sit together.

They need to identify immediate improvements to begin reducing road deaths today, rather than in the future.

With approximately 9.7 million cars and motorcycles in Bangkok alone, and many more if you add in the surrounding provinces, ensuring adequate lighting should be a top priority.

See also:

More than 100 killed in road accidents during Songkran holidays in Thailand

After 9 Strange Accidents in 3 Days, Mystery of Cursed Road Solved in Thailand

Road accidents killed two people every hour in Thailand in 2020

Source: Bangkok Post