Southeast Asia’s roads more dangerous than Covid
With death tolls higher than Covid-19 fatalities, Southeast Asian roads are some of the most dangerous in the world
by David Hutt January 26, 2022

“If I miss one exit, can I reverse my car on [the] expressway?” is a question posed on the new Twitter page for the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, Cambodia’s first proper motorway that is expected to open next year.

“Absolutely not,” was the answer. “You need to pay close attention to the signs on the expressway.” Another asked: “If I need to use [the] toilet, can I stop the car on [the] expressway?” The answer: “No. On the expressway, the driving speed is nearly 100km/h.”

There’s a good reason why authorities are preparing safety campaigns now. Last year there were more than 1,500 fatalities from road accidents in Cambodia, making it the leading cause of deaths in the country.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng, announcing these statistics on January 1, pointed to the positives.

The number of deaths on Cambodia’s roads last year was down from about 1,600 in 2020, he stated, which in turn was down from about 2,000 in 2019. But to put that into some perspective, there have been just over 3,000 deaths in Cambodia from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, making road travel more perilous.

The analogy isn’t a perverse one. Writing in November 2020, Jitlakha Sukruay, a researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute, argued that “if we go by the number of deaths, the coronavirus is not the country’s biggest public health problem. Road accidents are.”

Back in 2011, a World Health Organization (WHO) study called road-traffic injuries the “Silent Epidemic” in Southeast Asia. In our latest jargon, it could be called Southeast Asia’s persistent “pandemic.”

Across much of Southeast Asia, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of deaths and injuries. According to the WHO’s database of 2019, Thailand and Vietnam were the most perilous countries in the region, with a death rate of 32.2 and 30.5 people, respectively, per 100,000.

Next on the list were Malaysia (22.4 per 100,000), Myanmar (20.3), Cambodia (19.5) and Laos (17.8 ). Only two Singaporeans per 100,000 die on average from road accidents, by comparison.
https://asiatimes.com/2022/01/southeast ... han-covid/

"There’s a good reason why authorities are preparing safety campaigns now. Last year there were more than 1,500 fatalities from road accidents in Cambodia, making it the leading cause of deaths in the country."

No, not really. TB kills kills many more thousands per year in Cambodia than road fatalities.

cambo swa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:55 am "There’s a good reason why authorities are preparing safety campaigns now. Last year there were more than 1,500 fatalities from road accidents in Cambodia, making it the leading cause of deaths in the country."


No, not really. TB kills kills many more thousands per year in Cambodia than road fatalities.

After all this jabbing against Covid, do you mean they don't vaccinate against TB ?

What about the Chinese-caused accidents and deaths on these Cambodia roads statistics ?
How big a chunk of it are they ?

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:03 am

cambo swa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:55 am "There’s a good reason why authorities are preparing safety campaigns now. Last year there were more than 1,500 fatalities from road accidents in Cambodia, making it the leading cause of deaths in the country."


No, not really. TB kills kills many more thousands per year in Cambodia than road fatalities.

After all this jabbing against Covid, do you mean they don't vaccinate against TB ?

I tried looking for stats in this, but there’s conflicting results. Some sites say that vaccine uptake is very low, but this WHO report suggests close enough to 100%:
https://www.who.int/immunization/monito ... ta/khm.pdf

First result on Google was this article from 2016 in which some random Khmer hospital doctor cites some anecdata to push an antivax stance against BCG - a vaccine that’s been successful in erasing TB from other countries worldwide for over 70 years. Not sure if anything came of it.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/25714/doct ... n-no-good/

The impression I get overall is that they are jabbing, but as with most vaccines the number of breakthrough infections is going to be higher if there’s already a lot of it about as a result of previous generations not having access. TB seems to be one of those things that lingers in your body long term.

I have a medium sized motorcycle. When I have the wife on the back, I drive like an old lady. When I'm on my own, which is most days, I drive like the locals; I pull out of side roads, overtake to turn right, cut red lights, U-turn anywhere and ride down one-way streets. When in Rome

What I find interesting is how many people seem to get angry when someone mentions all of the things that kill more people than covid in SEA.