The roads won’t get safer on their own

About 600 people were killed in road accidents in Bangkok in 2016. Most of the deaths stemmed from motorcycle accidents.
 For many people, these statistics are nothing more than numbers. Take for example, the 25 people injured in just two accidents late last month, in Chachoengsao and Prachin Buri. In one case, a bus driver admitted he felt asleep behind the wheel. His vehicle slammed into the back of a 10-wheel truck.
More statistics. 
These tragedies don’t personally concern us. Such a thing could never happen to us. Too many people seem to think they have some sort of lucky charm in their pockets. The self-congratulation (at surviving) and the denial go on. Until it does indeed happen to them or to someone they love. 
Part of the reason people are so indifferent to such statistics is because we have no direct experience of such events. We are indifferent to the issue of road safety. We don’t take the time to examine the circumstances that create hazards on the road, or the consequences – the lost lives, the maiming injuries and, yes, the cost to taxpayers.
Has anyone bothered to ask, for example, whether that bus driver had had enough sleep before beginning his day’s work? Is it any of our business what he was doing the night before? Who is supposed to ensure that bus drivers are ready and able to drive? Should the company he works for be responsible for the damage done?
This problem goes much further than a bus driver’s fitness for duty, though. It is about our collective 
attitude towards public safety and the lack of proper rules and regulations for the operators of vehicles in general. 
Enforcement of the law is an essential factor, yet too often it is ignored. Just ask any motorist whether they’ve ever had to pay a bribe to a traffic police officer. Sometimes it’s the police themselves violating the law. Who’s going to arrest them? They seem to forget that they’re duty-bound to ensure public safety, not go around flexing their muscles.
Late last month, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety announced a plan to reduce road deaths in Bangkok by half in the next two years. 
As mentioned, there were about 600 road deaths last year, so hopefully by 2019, this figure should be closer to 300, maybe even lower. (The five-year timeframe started in 2015.) Bangkok is one of 10 cities participating in the initiative, says Kelly Larson, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ director of road safety.  
The initiative has also waged campaigns to reduce risky behaviour and promote road safety. The strategy to reduce street fatalities also includes redesigning roads to make them safer for pedestrians. Portions of Asok, Silom and Yaowarat roads in Bangkok have already been revamped.  
But why do Thais have to wait for foreigners to give us a friendly nudge in the right direction? People who live in these areas see the dangers every day, as do their district officials and their bosses at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Is it not their responsibility to take action and make suggestions to the proper authorities? Or is the BMA only responsible for picking up trash and ensuring that street vendors pay their tithes on time?
Sadly, too many of our officials are sleepwalking through their working days. They think it’s a free ride, but it’s not. At least it’s not supposed to be.