ROAD SAFETY
IN ASIA
Translating data into
knowledge with AsianTransport Outlook
Mel Eden
5 Dec. 2023

Photo: Unsplash

Road Safety Profiles

WE ARE OFF-TRACKRoad crash fatality annual change in 2000-2010 vs 2010-2019
Asia-Pacific countries

Regional Averages

8%2010-2019 Annual rate of change, %6%

Sub-Saharan Africa

4%2%

Global0%-2%Northern Africa andWestern Asia
Latin America and theCaribbean

Europe and NorthernAmerica
Asia-Pacific-4%-6%-8%-10%-10%Reductions required to halve
road crash fatalities by 2030
-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%0%2%
2000-2010 Annual rate of change, %

4%

6%

8%

10%

Source: WHO (2021)
Public2

WHAT COUNTRIES ARE COMMITTING FOR ROAD SAFETY
265 unique measures

Infrastructure (48)Services (31)Plans and targets (37)1,044 documents

4900+ total
policy measures

Vehicles (39)

Fuels (14)Public3,156 of whichhave roadsafety element

Data andinformation (12)Funding andfinancing (12)Institutional
setup (15)Operational (14)

Building
capacities (16)Recorded from 290+
policy documents fora sample of 15
economies**Bangladesh, Bhutan,Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lao
People's Democratic Republic,
Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal,Pakistan, Philippines, SriLanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste,
Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

3

A BROADER VIEW OF ROAD SAFETY POLICY IN ASIA
Road safety policy landscape... has become more diverse

Policy documents with direct and indirect road safetymeasures

Number of unique road safety-related policy
measures

Number of documents
020406080

100... and more “dense”
Road safety-related policy measures per policy
document
13203

ClimateEnergy
Road Infrastructure & Operations

9National Development Policy
Multi-Modal
Road Safety
SDGAir Pollution

Share of policies with roadsafety element

98

National (General)
Automotive
Railways
Logistics
Gender2000-2010

Urban

2010-2020

2000-20102010-2020

Active Transport
Source: National Policies

Source: National Policies
Public4

ROAD SAFETY DIRECT AND INDIRECT TARGETS
132 road-safety related targets in 15 sample countries
Road crash fatality target
Bangladesh
Road accident death rate to 13
per 100,000 by 2025
[Eighth Five Year Plan]

Road crash injuries target
ThailandThe number of serious injuries fromroad accidents in 2027 must be
less than 106,376.
[Thailand Road Safety MasterPlan 2022-2027]

Vehicle safety standards
Pakistan
By 2030, 100 percent of new andused vehicles (produced, sold, orimported) meet or exceed UN
Regulations and Vehicle TechnicalRegulations[National Road Safety Strategy2018-2030]

Helmet wearing rate
Viet Nam
To increase helmet wearing rates
among children in Vietnam to over
80% by 2030
[National Child Helmet Action
Plan]

Road crash fatality target
Lao PDR
Reduce the rate of deaths andserious injuries to 70% by 2035
[2021-2030 National Road Safety
Strategy and 2021-2025 Action
Plan]

Road crash fatality target
Malaysia
Achieve at least 50% reduction in
the number of deaths caused byroad crashes by 2030
[Malaysia Road Safety Plan2022-2030]

Star rating for existing roads
Lao PDR
75% of major roads in the city withsafety rating of three stars or
higher by 2025
[2021-2030 National Road Safety
Strategy and 2021-2025 ActionPlan]

Mode share target
Bangladesh
To achieve a shift in passenger
traffic from road to rail of up toaround 20% by 2030
[Intended Nationally DeterminedContributions]

Education
Thailand100% of traffic participants are
educated and disseminated withknowledge and law on traffic
order and safety and skills in safe
traffic by 2030
[National Strategy for ensuring
road traffic order and safety]

Mode share target
Malaysia
Percentage of urban public
transport modal share = 50% by2040[National Energy Policy 20222040]

Road crash fatality target
Pakistan
Save at least 6,000 lives thanwould otherwise have been lost by2030.
[National Road Safety Strategy
2018-2030]

Database
Viet Nam
Traffic safety database must be
developed and completed withmodern technology, synchronous
connection by 2030
[National Strategy for ensuring
road traffic order and safety forthe period 2021-2030]

Active transport infrastructure
Bhutan75% of urban road should becovered with dedicated NMT tracksby 2050
[Low Emission Development
Strategy (LEDS) - SurfaceTransport]

Road rehabilitation
Lao PDR
Rehabilitate 2,800 km of roads,bridges and expressways inaccordance with ASEAN technicalstandards by 2025
[9th Five-Year National
Socioeconomic Development
Plan]

Road crash fatality target
Philippines
Fatality rate per 100,000
population reduced from 8.0 to
1.68 by 2028
[Philippine Development Plan
2023-2028]

Source: National Policies
PublicR

Newly brenovated rvulnerable[Nationalroad traffUrbaB

Number ofbuilt and dtransit sy[NationDevelopmPrioritizing
safety andgo[SustainaVision a5

ROAD SAFETY RELATED POLICY MEASURES
3160 road-safety related measures in 15 sample countries

oad-side checks on helmetaring, and seatbelt-wearing
Nepal
re the compulsory use of seatby front-seat car passengers
and the use of helmets
pal Road Safety Action Plan(2021-2030)]

Accreditation
Pakistan
By 2030 Pakistan has a cadre ofinternationally accredited Road
Safety Auditors.
[National Road Safety Strategy
2018-2030]

Audit
Philippines
Maintain at least three (3) safety
star ratings in more than 50% of
roads nationwide[Philippine Road Safety Action
Plan 2023-2028]

Vehicle registration limits
Maldives
Vehicle control mechanism,
including issuance of certificate ofentitlement to register vehicles inthe Greater Male’ Region[Strategic Action Plan 19-23]

Quality assurance
BhutanVarious Quality Assurance
measures shall be developed andcontinuously reviewed[Road Sector Master Plan (20072027)]

Fossil fuel subsidy
Bhuta
Phase out subsidy oencourage conserva
to alternative fu[The AlternativeEnergy Policenger and freight load limits
Uzbekistan
ement a system of weight anddimensional control[Draft Strategy for thevelopment of the Transport
System of the Republic ofUzbekistan until 2035]

Funding mechanism
Sri Lanka
2020 onwards, 5% of transport
investment allocation for safety
improvement[Sustainable Sri Lanka 2030
Vision and Strategic Path]BAC limit, drug use
Viet Nam
Regularly and continuously
implement campaigns to patrol,control and handle violations ofalcohol concentration and drug use.
[National Strategy for ensuring
road traffic order and safety]

Automated enforcement
ThailandInstall a speed detection camerathat detects motorcycle license
plates.
[Thailand Road Safety MasterPlan 2022-2027]

Public transport integration
Nepal
Make provisions for bus terminals,bus stops, taxi stands and bicycle
stands and transfer facilities[National Sustainable Transport
Strategy (NSTS) for Nepal (20152040)]

Active transport i
BangladCreating specia
pedestrians an[Perspective Plan o2021-20

Post-crash care
Kazakhstan
ehabilitation and support of
ms and close dead as a resultof the road accidents
the road traffic: The Law ofRepublic of Kazakhstan of
April 17, 2014 No. 194-V]

Database
Sri Lanka
Maintain a database for accident
black spots, injury types and costsof damages.
[National transport Policy of SriLanka]

Seatbelt anchorage standards
Thailand
Safety-belt anchorages R14[Thailand’s Electric Vehicle
policies]

Vehicle scrappage
Malaysia
Develop and enforce regulations
for vehicles’ end of life (commercial& private vehicle)[National Transport Policy 20192030]

Behavioural change
Sri Lanka
Encourage vehicle insurancecompanies to introduce vehicle
insurance policy that entails
insurance premium based on
driving behaviors to control roadaccidents.
[Public Investment Program 2021]

EducatiBangladA special programm
road safety will bschools as pa
implementation ofpolicy[National Land Tra

Source: National Policies
Public6

NEED FOR BETTER DATA IN ROAD SAFETY
Road crash fatality rate comparison bysource, 2019
WHO

Global Burden of Disease

Yes

35

General data repositories and data collection

NoTrauma registry
National road safety database
Data modelling improvements

25

Road crash fatality
historical trends

20Collection and analysis system for accident data

69080

1070

50

Road crash fatality
disaggregation (gender,mode, road type, etc.)

Road crash fatality
projection

6

Number of measures

15

Source: Country Official Statistics, WHO (2021), GBD (2019)
PublicMeasures on data systems
improvement for road safety30

Bangladesh
Singapore
PakistanJapan
Brunei Darussalam
People's Republic of China
Australia
Republic of Korea
New ZealandAzerbaijan
Indonesia
MyanmarIndia
Russian Federation
ThailandSri Lanka
Kazakhstan
Lao People's Democratic…

Road crash fatality rate per 100,000 population

Country Official Statistics

Road safety strategies withanalysis of fatality trends (surveyin 10 countries*)

605040302031002010Source: Road Safety Strategies*Bangladesh, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal,Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

2015

2023
Source: National Policies
7

“ATO translates data into insights,policies, and investments”
www.asiantransportoutlook.com
ATO TeamJamie Leather
Andres Pizarro
Cornie Huizenga
Sudhir Gota

asiantransportoutlook@gmail.com
jleather@adb.org
andres.pizarro@aiib.org
chuizenga@cesg.biz
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