BUS SAFETY IN THAILAND

Road accidents or road crashes are problems in societies with motorized forms of transport. The World Health Report indicates that in 1998, there were 1,171,000 deaths resulting from road crashes worldwide or 2.2 percent of the total number of deaths from various diseases in all countries, which amounts to 53,929,000. In addition, the number of injuries were estimated at around 10 million. In many countries, road accidents are now commonly the second largest cause of deaths for the core age group (5-44 years) and the problem has been considered by the World Health Organization to be of epidemic proportions. Road accidents cost countries between one to three percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) and annual losses due to road crashes have been a serious economic drain and problem for many developing countries. Ross estimated that these costs were at least US$20 billion per year. The severity of the problem is still increasing in the developing countries while the developed countries have largely kept the problem under control. However, in its World Disaster Report, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has predicted that road traffic accidents would emerge as the third leading cause of disease or injury burden in 2020 from its ninth ranking in 1990. This paper describes the results of a Thai bus safety study. Bus accidents, their causes and suggested remedial measures are discussed. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E204151.