Road dangers: we have much to learn

“Lucky enough it wasn’t worse,” he said.
Around noon on a Tuesday two weeks ago, all roads in Bangkok were wet. Nitipan rode his Honda motorcycle with less speed than usual. But at below 30 kilometres an hour, he could not stop when a van in front of him suddenly braked. His motorcycle hit the van’s bumper and he fell on the road. Everything stopped except for the pain.
For one night in an ICU and another at the hospital, examination and treatment bill cost Bt28,000. The doctor told him to take a rest for one month. He can now breathe more easily and walk.
Nitipan strongly believes that respect for the law and other commuters can help prevent most road accidents, but not all.
“Every motorcyclist knows that when we are on this two-wheel vehicle, we can get hurt at any time – either we hit someone or someone hits us,” he said. “A motorcycle is the best choice for certain situations, especially Bangkok traffic, and I always take good care of my motorcycle, protecting gears and making them ready in perfect condition.”
With a passion for powerful engines, he took many training courses for big bikes and normal motorcyclists. Nevertheless, this was not the first, but worst accident he has faced.
Over a year ago, due to an uneven road surface, his Kawasaki big bike stumbled and crashed. His body bounced many meters away from the big bike. Luckily, he could get up and just went home. He decided to never ride over 100 kilometres an hour again.
“My jacket was tattered both times. I don’t want to imagine if it was my skin. The helmet really saved me,” he said adding that during the latest accident, he also wore a light helmet – as always.
Warunee Suesatsakulchai, 38, disagreed with Nitipan on luck. She has not fully recovered from an accident at Sky Lane Thailand last week, when her bicycle was hit by another bicycle which came quickly from behind.
“Such accidents are the result of people’s action. They are caused by carelessness, they are preventable,” she said, adding that she was riding carefully at about 10 kilometres an hour in the left lane for slower riders. The cyclist that hit her said he only saw her for a split second before the crash that sent both to the ground. She estimated the other rider was doing over 20 kilometres an hour.
“I am still angry and I still have pain all over my body. If I breathe too strongly, my chest hurts,” she said. The doctor told her that if she had been riding faster, it could have been far worse.
The medical check-up and treatment has cost her almost Bt18,000 so far.
Warunee said she chose to ride there because it was designed especially for cycling. Over a year she chose bike riding for exercise, and rode carefully – always following all the rules. She wore a safety helmet, cyclist glasses, gloves and sneakers. Her bicycle was at the right type and size and in perfect condition. Had the other biker been careful, such an accident would not have happened.
As Nitipan and Warunee are in my circle of friends, what happened to them shows how close road accidents are around us. It was no surprise that Thailand is notable for having the second highest rate for road fatalities in the world. Statistics by Injury Surveillance in 2012 showed 75 per cent of these deaths were motorcyclists and cyclists.
Nitipan's belief that accidents are a matter of luck matches one myth popular among Thais that the World Health Organisation and concerned agencies want to bust. He was unaware of other factors he mentioned including speed and road conditions.
At a workshop co-organised by WHO, Thai PBS, Internews and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications in Bangkok last week, participants were told that some governments refuse to call road traffic injuries “accidents” as they are preventable and there are many factors that we can control to reduce the risks. Besides road users, road conditions and environment, social and economic structures, plus laws and enforcement also count.
Thais still have much to learn about road injuries and how to be safe on the road.