At least two road crashes occur every day across the country. This is according to the records with Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA).

This year’s figure for Thimphu until June is 371 road crashes which killed 50 people and injured 164.

Thimphu had the highest number of motor vehicle accidents – 227 – followed by Paro with 81 and Chhukha with 11.

RSTA collected a total of Nu 381,500 for drink driving, Nu 260,750 for unlicensed driving, and Nu 195,750 for the offence of having no license during on-the-spot checking.

A police official said that most accidents in Thimphu occur in the core city area.

According to an RSTA official, there are four major causes of road crashes, all of which fall under the category of human error such as speeding, driving under influence, unlicensed driving and use of mobile phones.

Between January and June this year, 1,351 cases of unlicensed driving, 1,101 cases of drink driving and 21,000 traffic violation cases were recorded.

RSTA continues to provide road safety training to the public and holds awareness programmes on a regular basis. More than 1,500 students from four Thimphu high schools were made aware about basic safety subjects for pedestrians and commuters this year.

“We also conducted a course for traffic police because they are the ones who enforce the law. It is very important to keep them abreast of the changes in the regulations and rules as we update them from time to time,” said an RSTA official.

To supplement training, RSTA acquired 79 breath analysers and 25 speed radar guns.

RSTA trained 5,028 people, including bus drivers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, the armed forces and motor vehicle inspectors on road safety and transport discipline.

Besides conducting courses on safety measures, RSTA also focuses on pollution control from vehicle emission and waste management from public transport, an official said. “We also intend to support Bhutan Narcotics Control Authority with regard to the use of drugs by drivers of public transport.”

There are a total of 88,227 vehicles registered with RSTA in the country today. Thimphu alone has 45,622.

Rinchen Zangmo

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