ROAD SAFETY ANALYSIS IN THAILAND AND OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES: URGENT ACTIONS FOR THAILAND

Abstract

One of the most important prerequisites to achieving challenging sustainable development goals
(SDG) on road safety is to comprehend the interrelationship of constituents related to road safety such as road
traffic fatalities (RTFs), population, income levels, registered vehicles, law enforcement and others.
A comprehensive review and critical analysis of road safety status in Thailand and other Asian countries were
completed. It was found that RTFs per 100,000 people had no correlation with GNI per capita, while RTFs per
1,000 vehicles revealed reasonable correlations with the number of registered vehicles per 1,000 people. As
the number of registered vehicles per 1,000 people increased, the RTFs per 1,000 vehicles decreased. The main
cause of RTFs in Thailand and several Asian countries were 2/3-wheelers. As the proportion of 2/3- wheelers
in Asian countries increased, the percentages of RTFs caused by 2/3-wheelers were enhanced. When the GNIs
of any Asian country increased, the performances of the national road safety law enforcement were generally
improved. Based on RTFs per 100,000 people, Thailand was one of the most dangerous road transport countries
on earth. Finally, when the various main causes of road accidents in Thailand were identified, urgent road
safety actions were proposed accordingly.