Skip to main content

Nepal safety issues

The authorities in Nepal are establishing a road safety plan that is intended to reduce the country’s annual injury and fatality rates. Nepal’s Traffic Police Directorate recently announced figures showing that of the 8,503 accidents recorded in the 2010-2011 financial year, 4,914 occurred within the Kathmandu Valley. The police also said that factors causing accidents included the poor state of gravel and surfaced roads and inadequate traffic signs. Potholes are a major problem on Nepal’s road system accor
April 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Nepal is investing in roads and hopes to boost safety. Picture: Nick Goodwin
The authorities in Nepal are establishing a road safety plan that is intended to reduce the country’s annual injury and fatality rates.

Nepal’s Traffic Police Directorate recently announced figures showing that of the 8,503 accidents recorded in the 2010-2011 financial year, 4,914 occurred within the Kathmandu Valley. The police also said that factors causing accidents included the poor state of gravel and surfaced roads and inadequate traffic signs. Potholes are a major problem on Nepal’s road system according to the police, as well as reducing traffic flow and increasing congestion.

Officials at Nepal’s 2437 Ministry of Physical Planning and Works said that poor road conditions are the result of government policy as well as the long tender process for repairing and improvement of potholes. However, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works says that there has been progress in maintaining 7000m2 of potholed roads within the Kathmandu Valley and some 5000m2 elsewhere in the country. But because of the focus on reducing potholes, improved signage has moved down the priority list.

Due to the increase in road accidents along the six lane Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road section, one of the local hospitals nearby has carried out a programme focussing on how drivers follow road rules.

Meanwhile the authorities in urban Kathmandhu have been removing roadside advertising hoardings that proliferate in the city. These cause driver distraction and have been attributed as factors in many accidents. In addition, Nepal’s Home Ministry has opted to tackle safety problems arising from vehicles being overloaded with passengers. This has been identified as a major factor in high injury and fatality rates in specific accidents as well as being a factor in causing individual incidents.

Related Content

  • TISPOL introduces best practice road safety guidance
    December 6, 2013
    Pan-European police body TISPOL is working on key road safety initiatives that will help reduce the incidence of crashes, deaths and injuries. In this video Bernd Heller of TISPOL Germany explains key areas under focus for the joint sharing initiative for the group members. He said that in Germany, speed enforcement, and seatbelt enforcement are being placed as a priority, while in the Netherlands there is a focus on risk ratings. Meanwhile in Slovakia, police are looking closely at the new directive on cro
  • Peru’s serious road safety problem
    May 28, 2024
    Peru faces a serious road safety problem.
  • Nepal road tunnel work commencing
    October 25, 2019
    Construction work is commencing on the Nepal First Tunnel Road project.
  • Ohio reveals worrying data on workzone crashes
    April 23, 2013
    New data from the US state of Ohio reveals worryingly high levels of highway construction work zone deaths. Fatalities in the state’s highway work zones doubled in the period from 2009-2011, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The figures are the most recent available and include both motorists and construction workers. Meanwhile, ODOT is piloting a new program aimed at reducing vehicle crashes and making construction work zones safer. “ODOT tries to do all we can to e