The past year has witnessed an alarming rise in road accidents in Thailand. A staggering 81 delivery riders were involved in these incidents, resulting in 28 unfortunate fatalities and 36 serious casualties. The main culprits responsible for these accidents were apparent law violations such as exceeding speed limits, lane encroachments, the distraction of mobile phones while driving, and pressure to deliver on strict timelines.
Kongkarn Takhiranrit, the interim chief of the Social Risk Control Office at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), shed light on these chilling statistics. According to her, a substantial number of the reported road fatalities involved delivery riders and motorcycle taxis. She highlighted that in Bangkok alone, there are over 5,556 motorcycle taxi service stations, which employ a whopping total of 84,547 registered riders.
Kongkarn pointed out a worrisome loophole — a significant deficiency in traffic risk assessment skills among both delivery riders and motorcycle taxi drivers. Given this inevitable reality, she advocated the urgent requirement for defensive driving training to keep the number of road accidents under control.
Addressing these concerns, a seminar was organized this Thursday by the subcommittee responsible for the safety management of delivery riders and motorcycle taxis. Its objective, to bolster the road safety measures among riders. The attendees received an update from Kongkarn about the innovative defensive driving guidelines that the Social Risk Control Office has developed for delivery riders and motorcycle taxis.
This beneficial initiative gained support from several institutions, including the Thailand Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Labour Ministry, and ThaiHealth. Other backers include Road Safety Thailand, the Road Safety Policy Foundation, Robinhood (Purple Ventures Co Ltd), the Motorcycle Taxis and Delivery Riders Association, and associated networks. Financial assistance for this project came from these supportive organizations.
The business development manager at SCG Skills Development Co Ltd, Sombat Puttasamrit, remarked on his company’s collaboration with ThaiHealth and Road Safety Thailand. Together, they aim to provide defensive driving training courses for delivery and motorcycle taxi riders. Sombat shared that these extensive courses would encompass key areas such as traffic law, mental readiness, fatigue management, risk evaluation, and troubleshooting strategies for both expected and unanticipated situations.
The mission behind these enlightening training sessions is straightforward: to bolster safety awareness and inspire rider networks to promote safe driving habits.
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