Skip to main content

Myanmar road safety concern

Concern is being expressed at the rapid rise in road deaths in Myanmar. The road fatality rate has increased substantially in recent years, as has the number of vehicles on the country’s road network. In the period from 2009-2014, the number of registered vehicles in Myanmar more than doubled. And in 2014 the World Health Organisation highlighted its concern that Myanmar’s road death rate had more than tripled in less than 10 years. According to official data, Myanmar had over 15,000 road crashes, 25,000
April 7, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Concern is being expressed at the rapid rise in road deaths in Myanmar. The road fatality rate has increased substantially in recent years, as has the number of vehicles on the country’s road network. In the period from 2009-2014, the number of registered vehicles in Myanmar more than doubled. And in 2014 the World Health Organisation highlighted its concern that Myanmar’s road death rate had more than tripled in less than 10 years.

According to official data, Myanmar had over 15,000 road crashes, 25,000 injuries and 4,000 road deaths in 2015. Rangoon, Mandalay, Pegu and Irrawaddy had the highest casualty rates. Key safety issues include a widespread failure to use helmets while riding motorcycles or seatbelts when in cars. Driving under the influence, using cellphones at the wheel and speeding are also known to be major causes of crashes in the country.

Related Content

  • UK road safety improves for 2024
    March 27, 2025
    Preliminary data shows UK road safety improved for 2024.
  • Eyes on the road – the distraction problem
    June 23, 2016
    The news that Europe’s road safety drive stalled in 2015 is a cause for concern. The actual causes of this stutter in the road with regard to boosting safety have yet to be identified. But it is highly likely that driver distraction plays a role, at least in part. There is plenty of research showing just how much of a risk the use of cellphones pose for drivers. And yet far too many drivers are blasé about the risks these pose for driver distraction. The sight of someone using a cellphone at the wheel i
  • India’s insurance claims for crashes are low
    October 24, 2016
    Analysis into traffic crashes in India has revealed that only around half of the country’s road deaths in 2015/2016 resulted in insurance claims. There were around 146,000 road fatalities in India during this period. The problem has been revealed by India’s Supreme Court. There are suggestions that the families of many of the road death victims do not know that they are entitled to compensation. The Supreme Court has pointed out that the four major sector insurers holding around 90% of the country’s busines
  • France shows improving road safety while Germany sees decline
    July 12, 2012
    A very different road safety picture is emerging in two European nations, France and Germany. In France, the road fatality rate fell 4.7% for the month of June 2012, compared with the same period in the previous year. Some 320 people were killed on French roads in June 2012. In May 2012, the road death rate in France was only 0.9% lower than for the same period in the previous year. But in April 2012 the road death rate dropped 22.2% compared with 2011, 9% in March and 25.3% in February.