Economic Policies Relating to Motorcycle Fatalities in Thailand
Abstract
The road safety education program, which includes motorcycle safety education program, plays an important role in reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in Thailand. Since 2011, the Department of Land Transport has enacted the law that requires drivers to attend the road safety education program for four hours before taking a driver's license. Therefore, the need for evaluating the program should be recognized. The objective of this study was to analyze the government budget for the road safety and evaluate cost-effectiveness of the motorcycle safety education program.
The results showed that, of the total budget 7.31% was allocated for the direct road safety and 92.69% was allocated for the indirect road safety program. The direct road safety budget accounted for a small proportion of the overall budget. Moreover, of the direct budget for road safety 0.17% was allocated to the road safety education program which had been proved statistically significant in its reduction of the number of motorcycle traffic fatalities. The cost effectiveness analysis shows that the motorcycle safety education program in 2012 is more effective in preventing motorcycle accidents than the original program in 2007. Therefore, the government should focus an economic policy for budget allocation for the motorcycle safety education program in Thailand.
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