Here is a snip of news from Thailand (where I live): The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said although Thailand came second in highest road fatality rates, but in term of motorcycle fatality rates, Thailand was on the top in the world. It said motorcycle death rate in Thailand is 26.3 people per 100,000, causing over 200 billion baht damages in term of economy. With a population of 67 million that is 17621 motorcycle deaths per year. Approximately 48 per day. The majority of these are aged between 15 and 29, male and do not wear helmets. Coming from Australia, which I consider to be heavily over policed, this place is the exact opposite. What is really bizarre is that tourists come here, many with no previous motorcycle experience, rent motorcycles and ride them without helmets. Lots of them also die. Defensive driving takes on a whole new meaning here. Stay safe!
Interesting, here are the stats for Aussies in 2014 Road deaths 2014 Despite what authorities tell us about riders killing themselves in single-vehicle crashes, Australian road death statistics for the past couple of years prove the opposite. Government statistics show that of the 187 riders and five pillions killed last year, only 40% of crashes were single-vehicle accidents, which is down from 49% the previous year. Most motorcycle crashes last year involved a car, while 14 were collisions with trucks and two with buses. Most fatal motorcycle crashes also occurred around town where bikes are more vulnerable to being hit by other vehicles, not on highways and sparsely populated country areas. Some 89% or 109 of all bike fatalities occurred in speed zones of 70km/h or below and none occurred on the Northern Territory’s 130km/h speed zones. So much for “speed kills”. Riders 187 (down from 201 in 2013) Pillions 5 (12) Cyclists 45 (49) Drivers 532 (567) Passenger 229 (202) Pedestrians 151 (157) Bike fatalities by state ACT 2 (2 in 2013) NSW 59 (71) NT 6 (6) Qld 35 (42) SA 11 (12) Tas 3 (10) Vic 30 (41) WA 41 (25) Sourced from - http://motorbikewriter.com/road-death-statistics/
