Aussie motorcycle road-safety knowhow is helping to train Thailand’s road engineers in an effort to reduce the country’s horrendous road toll.
Thailand has the second highest rate of road fatalities in the world with about 34 fatalities per 100,000 population equating to 22,500 lives lost per year. Motorcycles account for up to 70% of the fatal crashes.
In August 2017, Australian road safety consultancy Safe System Solutions Pty Ltd Research and Evaluations Lead, Dr Tana Tan, and Principal Engineer, Kenn Beer, delivered the Making Roads Motorcycle Safety (MRMF) Course to 40 of Thailand’s Department of Rural Roads engineers.
Dr Tana TanSince then, the DRR has engaged Safe System Solutions to deliver three more road safety courses in both Thailand and Australia.
The DRR has also translated the 800+-page Austroads Guide to Road Safety into Thai and are using it as one of their key references.
Aussie knowhow reaps rewards
A result of this training is that fatal crashes have dropped by an amazing 57% and serious crash injuries by 60% in 900 locations where Aussie knowhow has been implemented.
In December 2017, the MRMF course won a Prince Michael Road Safety Award.
Dr Tan, who is a motorcycle rider of 15+ years, says they continue to work with the DRR in road safety capacity building.
TRaining engineers to rideSafe System Solutions Pty Ltd now include a practical component to their MRMF course where the course participants, generally road designs and maintenance engineers, are taught how to ride a motorcycle so they get first-hand knowledge of the dynamics of two wheels.
Dr Tan says this practical component reinforces the theory component of the course and helps course participants understand the complexities involved when riding a motorcycle.
The road and transport safety consulting company has been exporting its road safety expertise since 2014 to countries such as Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.