Philippines Road Crash Statistics - Driver's Assessment and Traffic Safety Tips

As one of the low to average-income countries, Philippines contributes particularly more on road crash accidents tallying the whole statistical data from World Health Orginization(WHO) that every year, 1.25 million people died because of predictable and preventable road accidents.

What's more bothering to see is the statistical data of the Philippines (PSA) showing that the number of road accidents has been increasing. From 2016, with 6,869 records of road crashes, it grew up to 10,012 of 2015, a 45.76% growth.

Year	Number of Road Crash related deaths
2006	6869
2007	7305
2008	7335
2009	7704
2010	8423
2011	8023
2012	8331
2013	8761
2014	8666
2015	10012

The most vulnerable group of individuals belongs to the working group with age ranges from 15-64. Most frequent victims were at the age of 20-24 then followed by 25-29.

Year	Under 1	1-4	5-9	10-14	15-19	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-44	45-49	50-54	55-59	60-64	65-69	70-74	75-79	80-84	85 and over	Not Stated
2006	13	155	351	229	506	845	766	604	624	534	499	395	374	251	224	205	146	77	58	10
2007	13	171	324	224	646	898	879	627	641	541	490	440	376	304	214	217	150	85	60	5
2008	11	173	312	213	603	925	859	680	622	600	548	454	356	298	194	212	140	83	52	0
2009	8	161	284	214	652	1009	939	745	638	550	538	505	406	303 200	228	173	82	69	0
2010	17	126	305	249	739	1124	944	822	679	643	606	575	412	369	268	218	175	81	67	4
2011	10	147	257	213	689	1058	941	761	665	613	596	526	430	345	221	250	159	80	60	2
2012	24	147	254	217	734	1068	957	829	707	677	612	533	443	314	261	233	179	89	50	4
2013	21	142	280	192	775	1140	968	855	696	661	694	579	499	377	261	227	199	112	64	19
2014	9	127	253	195	743	1090	962	843	753	677	610	596	508	412	293	225	198	112	47	13
2015	15	130	261	230	826	1244	1182	931	860	722	721 654	610	477	414	309	223	116	52	17

More than 500 children died because of road accidents every year.

Year	Number of children victim of road crash
2006	748
2007	732
2008	709
2009	667
2010	697
2011	627
2012	642
2013	635
2014	584
2015	636

Along with that data, the top leading causes of death among the 5-24 age group is the road traffic injury.

Motorcycles are one of the top vehicles involving on road crash accidents and casualties.

Type of vehicle	Number of vehicles
Cars	962365
UV	1977499
SUV	428221
Trucks	384570
Buses	31943
Motorcycles	4872065
Non conventional	4998
Trailers	44946
Total	8706607

Victims mostly compromise more males than females and are more prone to negligence.

Year	Male	Female
2006	78.4	21.6
2007	78	22
2008	77.3	22.7
2009	78.8	21.2
2010	80	20
2011	81	19
2012	80.5	19.5
2013	80.9	19.1
2014	80.25	19.75
2015	81.04	18.95

Lastly, more or less 50% of the total accidents nationwide were recorded at Luzon. Because among those 3 land masses, Luzon has the greater number of population.

Thoughts

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We can deny the fact that accidents are bound to happen even at the most secure places or flawless machines. People tend to see it directly to the nature or causes of road accidents, but one thing that is more accurate and unbiased judgement, "most accidents are caused by defective people".

We have this human factor that remains a major block to traffic safety. Being a human, we are prone to irrational behavior. That is why for me, drivers are equipment too and thus needed to be carefully selected, maintained and being properly used to provide security to the riding public and to show off road worthiness.

3 elements in driver's assessment

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1. CONDITION - Rest is the best remedy to recharge back the driver's full performance and execution on the road. They get tired and irritable and in such states they should not be behind in any wheel.

2. COMPETENCE - All drivers should be competent enough and must possessed all the skills and experience to prove that he/she deserves the license he/she owns. They should be well maintained by taking vehicle courses and exams.

3. ATTITUDE - This is the most important safety feature that a driver must have. If not most of all drivers, some were irrationally aggressive, careless and abusive on the roads. If you chose the wrong driver to work on, you're just simplynm putting your life at risk.

A well-mannered driver always uses the seat belts and always reminding to his/her passengers to fasten their seat belts too. He is a considerable person on the road and to other drivers on the road. He obeys road signs or traffic signs and rules. Lastly, he drives defensively.

Traffic Safety Tips
These are just quick tips for traffic safety:

• Obey Speed Limits
• Be courteous
• Be visible
• Have a positive attitude
• Maintain your vehicle

Applying these tips is the key to good driving habits. Be alert, cautious, and courteous to avoid accidents. Road accidents occur at different places, whether at rural or urban, no matter where you are.

Last note: Always say a prayer when you attempt to be behind at any wheels. No other protection can save you other than that but if it's your time, then be it. :)

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References taken from here, including the two pictures.
Data gathered from Philippine Statistical Agency and Land Transportation Office.
Other References: C.S. Canonigo Driver's Manual

Thank you for reading. I hope you find this blog very informative. Happy Steeming!