The Thai Government is now being urged to address the country’s worryingly high rate of deaths and injuries amongst powered two wheeler users. Thailand has one of the worst road safety records of any nation in the world, with powered two wheeler users suffering a staggeringly high rate of crashes.
Poor rider/driver training, driving under the influence and speeding are all key problems. One new suggestion would be the introduction of a graduated licensing system (GDL). With this system, riders would be able to earn a full licence to use a powered two wheeler in a series of stages.
This scheme is being put forward by Dr Chamaipan Santikarn, the manager of Social Mobilisation for Motorcycle Safety Project for the road advocacy body, ThaiHealth.
A serious issue for safety is that an estimated 10 million powered two wheeler users in Thailand do not have a licence. The GDL would also address the issue of more powerful motorcycles with larger engines. At present, figures from the Department of Land Transport of Thailand show that there are more than 21 million powered two wheelers registered in the country.
