Are you content with the road traffic safety in your country?
By Biomechanoid
@Biomechanoid (2923)
Estonia
December 26, 2010 4:55pm CST
Hello Lotters! Today I heard terrible news about bus crash in Egypt. 8 American tourists were killed as a result of tourist bus collision with a truck. 21 tourists were injured. Such a terrible tragedy. Unfortunately, I recall many similar accidents that have happened in Egypt this year.
That made me think about how is the traffic safety ensured in my country and in other countries around the world?
So, I would like to get to know about the situation in your country.
I live in Estonia and traffic regulations are very strict here. There are many police patrols on the move taking down speeders and drunk drivers, speed cams are placed on highways. Unfortunately, accidents happen despite of the measures taken, especially now, when the traffic conditions are made worse by snow and ice.
What about your country?
3 responses
@sweetmary86 (822)
• Philippines
27 Dec 10
i come from a remote area where i dont experience much traffic problems. theres a smooth flow of vehicles. unlike in manila and cebu. but ive stayed in cebu and the traffic there is just bearable and undercontrol unlike in manila.
@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
27 Dec 10
Remote areas tend to be more peaceful in terms of traffic. The traffic is lighter, people don't get so nervous like in big cities. It's good that traffic safety is under control in your area.
Thanks for sharing! :)
@EnslinPorter (1718)
• Philippines
27 Dec 10
I live in the Philippines and I'd say the road traffic safety here is not very good. The laws have very minor punishments for offenses and that doesn't make offenders from violating the traffic laws again. There may be laws but the problem is enforcement. Sometimes, there are traffic enforcers who receive bribes from drivers who don't want to be written a ticket to. There are still honest officers though.
Aside from traffic laws, the procedure for giving people driver's license has some flaws. There's no actual driving test. I don't know about an exam though. The problem here is that there are many licensed drivers who are ignorant of traffic rules such as road signs, right of way, meaning of the lines on the road, and so on. All they know are the colors of the traffic light. I treat counterflow as a grave sin when on the road but many drivers don't care. Sometimes, traffic is caused by various cars swerving all the time. From a top view, they may look like snakes like in the classic "snake" game. One time, I witnessed a car from the middle lane of a major highway that turned right...and bumped a motorcycle.
From my observations, I really believe that the main problem in our country is driver education and licensing requirements. 
@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
27 Dec 10
It seems to me that there are two major reasons that are behind breaking the traffic laws. One is insufficient law enforcement (bribed policemen like you mentioned or just lack of manpower in police). The other things is insufficient education of drivers. It's the most terrible thing, because people don't know how to behave on the road and they start to come up with their own logic and rules, which differ from each-other greatly. Different views and situation analyzing make people act different on the road, there is no agreement between them and dangerous situations are easy to come.
Here in Estonia we have a very strict and complicated process of getting a license. First, person has to complete the driving school by doing exams in theory and practice driving. Then people are sent to state examination center, where state instructors test persons driving ability and knowledge of rules. These tests are quite hard to complete and they ensure that a person knows how to drive and how to act in different situations.
That's why many accidents happening in our country are caused by drivers without license but also by drunk drivers.
Educated drivers rarely cause dangerous situations. But the law enforcement must also be at it's heights, cause like you said, even educated drivers may break rules by doing shortcuts and speeding etc.
Hope that roads will become safer in the future!
Many thanks for your answer, drive safe!
@tvarasu10 (101)
• India
27 Dec 10
In India the road traffic safety is also not upto satisfacory.I think in many of the
densely populated countries the accidents are more in number
@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
27 Dec 10
Well, I guess India is a really large country and it's always harder to ensure safety in large countries. The safety measures require a lot of money and people to enforce them. I hope that the situation on your roads will get better in the future.
