Last year witnessed 5,576 road accidents with 8,388 people injured, 831 lives claimed and young people sharing 80% of the victims, a meeting was told on Jan 13.
The National Road Safety Committee convened the meeting in Vientiane to review road safety efforts made over the past one year, discuss the draft of the national road safety strategy 2021-2030 and action plan 2021-2025, the enforcement of laws and regulations on road traffic, the implementation of the Stop Accident Fatality rise by EMS development and Road safety (SAFER).
Road safety is among priorities stated in the two national agendas (on addressing economic and financial difficulties and tackling drug issues) which need to be realized,” said Minister of Public Works and Transports Viengsavanh Siphandone.
Statistics show that between 2011 and 2020 deaths caused by road accidents rose in 104 low income counties, including the Lao PDR. Meanwhile, 48 middle and high-income countries recorded a decline in road accident deaths.
Among ASEAN member countries, Laos ranks fourth with low road death rate per 100,000 population following Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Thailand has the highest traffic death density, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
The average road death rate in ASEAN is 32.7 per 100,000 population.
“Over the past six years, 1,000 people were killed in road accidents every year. Such a death rate represented a road death density of 11 per 100,000 population. This demonstrates that loss and damages caused by road accidents significantly restrains the economic growth of the country,” said Minister of Public Works and Transport Viengsavanh Siphandone.
Source: Lao News Agency