Myanmar’s poor road safety – cause for concern

Myanmar’s road safety remains a serious cause for concern. Some improvements have been seen in recent times, but more work needs to be done. There were 74,442 road crashes in Myanmar between the start of 2013 and August 2017. These resulted in 122,520 serious injuries and 28,502 fatalities according to data from the Myanmar Police Force. From January to August 2017, there were 12,250 crashes and 3,556 road fatalities, with 49% of the crashes involving motorcycles.
October 13, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Myanmar’s road safety remains a serious cause for concern. Some improvements have been seen in recent times, but more work needs to be done. There were 74,442 road crashes in Myanmar between the start of 2013 and August 2017. These resulted in 122,520 serious injuries and 28,502 fatalities according to data from the Myanmar Police Force. From January to August 2017, there were 12,250 crashes and 3,556 road fatalities, with 49% of the crashes involving motorcycles. The number of vehicles using Myanmar’s road network has increased following the relaxation of import duties in 2011. Overall, the ratio of fatalities from crashes to vehicle numbers has at least seen an improvement. However the country intends to lower road deaths further, having set a target of cutting fatalities by 50% for 2020, compared with the figures for 2014.

Related Content

  • Safer French roads or incorrect estimation?
    February 12, 2014
    Official figures for French road safety reveal a small drop in fatalities for January 2014 compared with January 2013. However these results have been queried over possible inaccuracies and inconsistencies. According to the official body Sécurité Routière, 238 people were killed in traffic accidents in January 2014, down 0.5% compared to January 2013. However, the number of crashes rose 7.5% during the period, leading to an increase in injuries of 10.6% to 5,694 in January 2014. The increased crash figures
    Read More
  • France a star in road safety
    September 3, 2012
    In the past, France had a poor road safety record. This has turned around to make the country a success story
    Read More
  • US road safety causes concern
    January 25, 2021
    US road safety is a cause for concern.
    Read More
  • South Korea’s road safety improving
    February 23, 2016
    South Korea’s road safety is improving, according to its National Police Agency. The figures show that the number of deaths caused by traffic crashes in the country dropped from 4,762 in 2014 to 4,621 in 2015. Of note is that 38.8% of the road deaths involved pedestrians. Cause for concern is that the number of female victims involved in fatal crashes increased by 3.1% to 540. On a more positive note, the ratio of deaths in every 10,000 cars dropped from 2.6 in 2010 to 1.9 in 2015. A total of 583 people wer
    Read More

Highlighted Content