Bhutan charts 10-year road safety plans

On average, 66 people died in road accidents every year for the past five years. The fatality rate was some 15 deaths for every 10,000 registered vehicles in 2010, which is high by international standards.

Records of the Traffic Division of Royal Bhutan Police say 319 people were killed and 2,648 injured in road accidents in the last five years (2005 to 2010).

Human errors account for the majority of accidents. Sixty percent of accidents between 2005 and 2010 were caused by human errors, while seven percent was caused by drink-driving and unlicensed driving.

Recognising the high rate of road accidents, Bhutan recently launched Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), a document outlining plans and programmes to improve road safety. The document is part of the initiative to fulfil Bhutan’s commitment to improving road safety following the UN General Assembly Resolution in 2010 proclaiming the decade of action for road safety 2011-2020.

The goal of the 10-year road safety plan is to reduce road accident-related deaths by two thirds and road accidents to half by 2020. This will be done by focussing on education, traffic rules enforcement, engineering and design of roads, post-accident response, and evaluation of the programmes for road safety.

During a nation-wide road patrol on April 28, out of 4,062 vehicles checked by police in 12 divisional regions, 61 vehicles were found violating the traffic rules. The leading violations were unlicensed driving and carrying extra passengers.

In May, out of 1,026 vehicles inspected, 229 were penalized for unlicensed driving, over loading, carrying extra passengers, and driving without proper documents. This indicates traffic rules violations are rampant on the Bhutanese roads.

The minister for information and communications, Lyonpo Nandalal Rai, had said that the Decade of Action must be implemented with priority.

The leading agencies responsible for implementation of the road safety plans for the decade are Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) under the Ministry of Information and Communications, Department of Roads, Department of Urban Development and Engineering Services under the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement, Royal Bhutan Police, Department of Public Health, Department of Medical Services under the Ministry of Health, thromdeys, and the Ministry of Education.

This multi-sectoral approach is already being developed into a plan of action.

“Right after the action plan for 10 years is developed, it will be put up to the government provided that there are funds,” said an official from RSTA.

In December 2010, there were 53,382 registered vehicles in the country. The annual average growth of vehicle number is nine percent. One in every 13 Bhutanese owned a vehicle in 2010. Bhutan’s modern road transportation system initiated in 1961 has now expanded to a 7,000 kilometre network of various road types.

By Tandin Pem

One Response to “Bhutan charts 10-year road safety plans”

1. Lauro Cesar Pedot says:

   April 1, 2012 at 6:41 am

   Congratulations, this text is good. I am Brazilian military police (1st sargeant from Highway Police). Here, we are working with the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020)too. We wish protection to the lifes, less dies. I like the country Bhutan. I and my family wish good luck to bhutanese people. Good bless the Buthan.

   Reply