A new week and another campaign launched to try and drive down road accidents and deaths.
The latest attempt was unveiled last Wednesday at an academic seminar in Bangkok titled "New Decade, New Normal", where Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced his ambitious goal of slashing road fatalities by almost two-thirds within five years.
This is a key part of the 20-year national strategy and every year the powers-that-be come up with campaigns to bolster road safety. The latest aims to reduce traffic accident-induced fatalities from 32 people per 100,000 to just 12 per 100,000 by 2027, while also achieving the so-called Vision Zero (no fatalities) target by 2050.
It goes without saying that this latest campaign is not the first and probably won't be the last. Every year, particularly during New Year and Songkran, the authorities come up with fresh campaigns. And almost invariably they fail to hit the mark.
Thailand's roads are the deadliest in Southeast Asia with the ninth-highest rate of road fatalities in the world at 32.7 per 100,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). About 20,000 people die of such causes here each year, or 56 deaths a day. Meanwhile, 59 people aged 15-19 are injured from riding motorcycles daily on average. Deaths from speeding have risen by 4% in recent times while fatalities connected to drink driving during the holidays are also up.
It is noteworthy that even the country's leader does not feel confident the new goal will hit its target. Gen Prayut reportedly admitted in the seminar that the road safety accidents might not work 100% "because of a lack of public cooperation", he said, adding: "I can't criticise people but I can remind them [of the need to prevent road accidents]."
Indeed, there are several things the authorities should have done -- without relying on public cooperation as a prerequisite.
Among them are upgrading infrastructure such as traffic lights, and improving road conditions and visibility in areas with high rates of traffic accidents.
To improve law enforcement, the police must make the most of the newly developed online database to issue e-traffic tickets so violators or fined or have their licences confiscated. The penalties should also be raised.
One of the key problems here is weak law enforcement. Drivers dare to flout the traffic laws because they know that enforcement of the law is not strong, and punishment can even be negotiated. According to the latest information from the Royal Thai Police, only 3 million out of 14 million drivers paid fines for the tickets they received last year.
Because most road accidents occur among motorbike riders, the authorities need to invest more time and resources into educating them about road safety and make sure they are equipped with the right gear including safety helmets. The authorities can use soft power to create a safer driving culture by ordering motorcycle manufacturers to make adverts showing people riding slowly and safely instead of tearing along the streets in fast and furious fashion.
But the country needs solutions and a can-do attitude to make the next road safety campaign a success.
