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Asia's Worst Drivers

Drivers are doing crazy things all across Asia. They back into oncoming traffic and stop on busy roads to chat with friends on the sidewalk. They eat pork buns and fill in business reports behind the wheel. They speed. They drive drunk, and they fall asleep at the wheel.

Here are the five countries with the worst vehicular horrors:

No.5: Thailand

Many cars in Thailand have an amulet on their rear view mirrors or dashboards with an image of Buddha and a verse intended to protect driver and passengers from harm. Two-thirds of Thailand's registered vehicles are motorcycles, and many of their riders ignore the country's helmet law. Automobile seat belts weren't required until October 1997. Just 1773 people were arrested in all of Thailand for drunk driving in 1996. The figure was so embarrassingly low in a country with 11.8 million licensed drivers that authorities launched a full-scale anti-drunk driving campaign in late 1997.

Some Thai drivers never think twice about stopping in the middle of a road, whether it's an expressway or a narrow side street.

Reckless driving is common, particularly among long-haul truck drivers who work long hours. The U.S. Embassy warns in its country report on Thailand that visitors should be aware that "consumption of amphetamines or other stimulants by commercial drivers is common. It follows that warning with a bit of scary advice: " Congested roads and a scarcity of ambulances can make it difficult for accident victims to receive timely medical attention."

No.4: Indonesia

The most dangerous drivers in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta seem to be the ones who get paid to shuttle the public. Minibuses, dubbed Red Devils, serve as the primary source of transit. But green-and-white Kopaja buses often ply the same routes as the Red Devils - rumbling wheel-to-wheel in a cut-throat chase for customers. People with shorter distances to go and less money to spend hop aboard bajays, three-wheel scooters that dark in and out of traffic like annoying gnats. Then there is the army of vans known as Colts, which stop anywhere, anytime to pick-up and disgorge passengers. A major problem in Indonesia is the extraordinary number of unlicensed drivers. In 1996, the last year for which statistics are available, there were only 3.2 million drivers licensed to operate 14.8 million registered vehicles. Fifty percent of the drivers understand the rules and the other 50 percent don't care about them.

No.3: Korea

Each year 25,000 accidents (one out of every ten) involve drivers who have been drinking. That one reason Korea has one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the world on a per capita basis. In 1996, the last year for which statistics are available, 12, 653 Koreans died in traffic mishaps. That was 28.1 deaths for every 10,000 people - drivers as well as non-drivers. Japan, Taiwan and Australia, by comparison, recorded fewer than two deaths per 10,000 population. Twenty-five thousand  seven hundred sixty-four traffic accidents were alcohol-related in 1996. Compare that to China, another country feared for its drunk drivers. Only 4508 accidents were formally listed as alcohol-related in China in 1997.

There can be no mistaking the Korean drivers who are trying to make it home every night in a deadly alcoholic fog. A travel advisory issued by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul warned visitors of the dangers that await them: "Problems include excessive speed, frequent lane changes, running of red lights, aggressive bus drivers and weaving motorcycles."

No.2: India

Welcome to India - a country where even the most basic road safety features are luxuries.
The lax safety standards take a deadly toll: India accounts for more than 10 percent of the world's traffic fatalities each year while having only about as many vehicles as Thailand and Taiwan combined.

One reason for the staggering death rate is simple: Speed kills. "Delhi's traffic is one of the fastest-moving in the world. The city's drivers often do 50 miles per hour. Studies consistently show that death rates soar disproportionately with speed.

Bombay and Calcutta average fewer than 400 traffic deaths per year, which is roughly equal to the fatalities in London. But Delhi averages more than 2000 a year.

Nowhere in Asia does a stoplight feel more like the starting grid of a grand prix race than in Delhi. Engines whine and squeal. Clutches whir and pop. Brakes and nerves strain as scores for jockey for advantage. And almost invariably the race begins long before the light turns green. Red traffic signals in Delhi encourage drivers to "relax". The double warning of a red light and a written message does nothing to hold back the tide of vehicles. The worst offenders for speeding and jumping red lights are young, affluent drivers known with a sneer as "the Maruti culture". They drive small, but speedy Marutis made by the Suzuki Company of Japan. Maruti means "god of wind", and the little cars easily outmaneuver the anti-quated Indian-made Ambassadors that were the staple of Indian roads for decades. The vehicular generation gap spawns so much anger that one Indian newspaper devoted an entire page to the 'road rage" sweeping India.

Back in New Delhi, the roads clear and traffic revs up, but soon everything grinds to a halt yet again. Workers are edging into an intersection, erecting a red tent that spills half into the turn lane. The tent is for a wedding and the space is simply being appropriated.

No.1: China

Driving is the downside of the mainland's amazing economic explosion. One of the China's biggest traffic problems is the bitter clash between the present and the past - between the automobile and the bicycle. Most of Beijing's 11 million residents still get around by bicycle or bus. And all those bicycles are fighting an often-deadly battle for space on the roads. Beijing and other cities across China have set aside special lanes for bicycles. That's fine when everyone is moving in one direction, but inevitably some bicycles have to across the street. And that's when the wars are fought, and often lost. Nights are scary in Beijing. With less traffic on the roads, frustrated drivers are free to go faster. And there is also the problem of nighttime entertainment. A lot of drivers drink and drive.

By one common statistical measure - fatalities per 100,000 vehicles - India and China are far and away Asia's deadliest countries; Japan and Taiwan are the safest. People are nearly 100 times more likely to die on the road in India than in Japan; 32 times more likely to die on mainland China than in Taiwan.  Deadly enough to rank China's drivers as the worst in Asia. Who knows? Maybe the worst in the world.

 

About the Author

Jedd Dolorfino

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