Reducing Road Traffic Accidents in Bhutan

Among others factors, road traffic accidents are caused by human errors, with drivers being careless and driving recklessly. There are policies in place which address this issue in Bhutan, but the regulations are relaxed. So, there are opportunities to make changes to the existing policies to ensure safety. Keeping in mind the need to curb the issues at the nib, I recommend to improve the existing licensing procedure, public transportation systems, and making the fines stricter in Bhutan. This will help to reduce road traffic accidents in Bhutan.

The Issue

Road traffic injuries are projected to increase as rising income level in developing countries leads to increased vehicle ownership. Nearly 3500 people die from road traffic accidents every day in the world (Martin, 2013). 

Even for a small country like Bhutan, records show that there is an increased incidences of road traffic accidents. And incidentally increase in road traffic offences directly translate to more road traffic accidents. Just for the month of April 2020, there were 1440 offences, with the majority due to failure to obey traffic instructions, unlicensed driving, and not parking in designated areas. Druk driving came in fourth with over 98 cases in a month. This figure is very high for a country of 38,394 km area with a total population of 734,374 in 2018 (National Statistics Bureau 2019). 

There are 1,08,573 registered vehicles as of March 2020 in Bhutan (Road Safety and Transport Authority,2020), while the number was 92,008 as of December 2017 (Dorji 2018), and 68, 173 in 2014 (World Health Organization 2016). 

Norman points out in a 1962 WHO report that the cause of road accidents is the road user, primarily the driver. Driving is a skill which requires proper training, while the issuance of learning permits and licenses also equally determine the quality of driving. 

This is one area that is difficult to control directly. But we can improve the driver’s skills before we let them have the road. And this can only happen during their trainings before getting their license. 

Existing Norms

Some countries require a longer wait to obtain a license. In Australia one starts with a learner's permit. There are typically three stages through which new drivers pass. They begin by acquiring a learner's permit, progress to a restricted, provisional or probationary license, followed by receipt of a full driver's license. Newly licensed drivers are required by law to display P-plates for varying lengths of time (Australia Government 2020). 

But in Bhutan the procedure to obtain a driving license is conveniently too short. One just needs to have held a Learner’s License for at least 6 months, and pass the theory and practical tests (Road Safety and Transport Authority 1999). There is a theoretical one-day Refreshers Course that needs to be attended before issuance of the license. 

So, my proposal will be in areas of driving license procedure, improving public transportation system, and increasing penalties for driving transgressions. As per the study report in 2014-15, ‘human factor’ was the most common cause of road traffic accidents at 87% (Wangdi et al. 2017). And out of that, ‘careless’ and ‘reckless driving’ were the major causes with 42%, while ‘not giving the right way’ and ‘over speeding’ followed closely with 13 and 8.4 % respectively. These are qualities that can be addressed during the trainings and refreshers course provided. 

Recommendations

WHO also points out the main risk factor for road accidents is always the human error, and there should be some accommodation for human error. But in this case, why can’t we plan to eliminate human error, or reduce them significantly by tackling the source of these errors? 

The following are three recommendations to the existing policies that can be implemented to reduce the human error in Bhutan. 

Firstly, changing the licensing norms through standardized driving trainings and more strict formalities to be conducted by government-recognized institutions with mandatory refreshers courses periodically. This will standardize the type of trainings made available, including license conditions to be introduced. Individual license holders can have specific conditions imposed, so that drivers can only drive permitted vehicles under permitted conditions. The Road Safety and Transport Authority has already hinted to make it tougher to get driving license (Seldon 2017a) by changing the testing methodology. 

Improving the public transport system with increased routes and cheap fares, both in cities and in regions is my second recommendation. This will encourage city-commuters and regional travelers to trust public transport services, thereby reducing their usage of personal cars. Lesser cars on the roads will lead to better driving experiences, thereby lesser road traffic accidents. 

Finally, increasing penalty for transgressions by drivers and vigilant monitoring using traffic-police personnel and traffic cameras is the third recombination. This will surely deter drivers from making rash decisions on the road thereby reducing potential road traffic accidents. 

So there is no one single way to tackle this issue. A number of plays must be put into effect today. And we can always start with one of the above. 

Nordzin Lam, Thimphu City. Image credit Manjulikapramod.com

References

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Australian Transport Safety Bureau 2004, Road Safety in Australia: a Publication Commemorating World Health Day 2004, in J Motha (ed.), Australian Government, 7 April, Australian Transport Safety Bureau, pp. 1–322, viewed 15 May 2020, <https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/publications/2004/pdf/Safety_Aust.pdf>.

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Seldon, P 2017a, ‘RSTA to Make It Tougher to Get Driving License’, The Bhutanese, 29 April, viewed 17 May 2020, <https://thebhutanese.bt/rsta-to-make-it-tougher-to-get-driving-license/>.

― 2017b, ‘What It Will Take to Make Our Unsafe Roads Safer’, The Bhutanese, 5 August, The Bhutanese Newspaper, viewed 9 May 2020, <https://thebhutanese.bt/what-it-will-take-to-make-our-unsafe-roads-safer/>.

Statista 2017, Switzerland: Composition of the Road Network 2017, Statista, viewed 13 May 2020, <https://www.statista.com/statistics/450006/switzerland-length-of-road-network-by-road-type/>.

Wangdi, C, Gurung, MS, Duba, T, Wilkinson, E, Tun, ZM & Tripathy, JP 2017, ‘Burden, Pattern and Causes of Road Traffic Accidents in Bhutan, 2013–2014: a Police Record Review’, International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 65–69, viewed 15 May 2020, <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17457300.2017.1341930>.

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