Myanmar’s growing road safety problem

Myanmar has a growing road safety problem, an issue becoming apparent as its economy gradually improves. The gain in prosperity in the country has seen a growth in vehicle numbers from 4 million in 2013 to 6 million in 2016. Small capacity motorcycles are becoming particularly popular, as in many of Myanmar’s neighbouring Asian nations. There were 17,834 reported vehicle crashes in Myanmar during 2016, 8,641 of which involved motorcycles. There were 4,887 road deaths in 2016, of which 2,093 were motorcyclis
May 12, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Myanmar has a growing road safety problem, an issue becoming apparent as its economy gradually improves. The gain in prosperity in the country has seen a growth in vehicle numbers from 4 million in 2013 to 6 million in 2016. Small capacity motorcycles are becoming particularly popular, as in many of Myanmar’s neighbouring Asian nations. There were 17,834 reported vehicle crashes in Myanmar during 2016, 8,641 of which involved motorcycles. There were 4,887 road deaths in 2016, of which 2,093 were motorcyclists. Of the country’s traffic fatalities, 48% were riding motorcycles.


But following on from the road safety lead in Asia being set by Vietnam, Myanmar is now looking to increase use of helmets amongst motorcyclists. Since Vietnam made helmet use mandatory for motorcycle riders, there has been a corresponding drop in the overall road fatality rate, showing how basic safety measures can have significant benefits. Myanmar’s National Road Safety Council is asking the Commerce Ministry to require two helmets to be sold with every new motorcycle.

Related Content

  • Sri Lanka and India have toughened enforcement on drink driving
    January 8, 2013
    The authorities in India and Sri Lanka are targeting drink driving in a bid to cut crashes. Both countries have high road accident levels and with high annual fatality rates. In a bid to reduce the annual death toll, similar actions are being taken in both nations that focus on tackling drink driving. Data from Sri Lanka show that in 2012, there were 2,190 reported road-related fatalities and of these, negligence and drunk-driving were the main causes of crashes. But despite increased enforcement of traffic
    Read More
  • Vietnam is seeing road safety improvements
    May 9, 2016
    Vietnam has seen a drop in road traffic crashes in the period from January-April 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. According to Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee, the number of road crashes fell by 12.6% to 6,620 during this period. Collisions accounted for 3,190 of Vietnam’s road crashes, which resulted in 1,945 serious injuries and caused 2,790 fatalities during the January-April 2016 period.
    Read More
  • Distracted driving from smartphone use poses a major road safety threat
    December 10, 2013
    Cell phone use while driving is not appreciated amongst drivers for the risk it presents. And with people growing ever more reliant on smartphones and other hand-held devices, the issue of distracted driving looks set to increase. Automotive manufacturers are installing wifi and other technologies in new generation vehicles in a bid to broaden market appeal, particularly to younger drivers. But it seems little thought has been given to the safety risks these pose should drivers attempt to use them when behi
    Read More
  • Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe announces encouraging 2013 sales
    February 13, 2014
    Hyundai Heavy Industries Europe (HHIE) sold 3% more Hyundai construction equipment across Europe in 2013, compared to 2012. In the UK market, it was the heavy line crawler excavators (14tonne – 80.5tonne) that showed the most impressive growth performance – 308 were sold in the UK in 2012 and in 2013 a total of 522 machines were sold, which equates to a 69.48% increase in units sold. This increases the market (comparable products from construction equipment OEM’s) in the UK from 8.34% in 2012 to 12.69% in
    Read More

Highlighted Content