Deaths spark recycled ideas, but no action

Deaths spark recycled ideas, but no action

There were two interesting pieces of news for city people last week _ that of a person being killed by a toppled billboard and of a car plunging off an overpass causing casualties.

Following the first incident, executives of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) ordered an urgent safety check of around 900 billboards across the city. It was reported that many of them were installed without meeting city safety requirements.

A similar inspection was also requested for all curved roads and junctions in Bangkok to devise measures that could prevent more tragedies.

It may not be necessary to ask a question for which I already have the answer. But I will anyway. If there had been no fatal incidents, would the BMA have considered implementing the measures it announced?

In fact, I'm not even confident that the measures will help solve the problems effectively.

Let me remind you, this is not the first time that a car has plunged from an overpass, particularly at the exact point where the latest accident occurred last week on Ratchavibha overpass.

The junction is problematic with its "Y" design, putting motorists in danger. There are other spots that are dangerous for the same reason.

It's the same story with the deadly billboards. Each time, authorities will hold meetings, order inspections of risky areas and send out alerts about a solution. But the same problem will resurface soon enough to haunt us. It's an endless case of deja vu.

I myself had to pass a road every day which had a signboard that dangled across it, looking as if it could drop on somebody's car at any moment.

The structure of the supporting pole had rusted away. I was very worried about it because I was afraid that it would be harmful to passersby. So I called up several government agencies which to my understanding should have been responsible for the problem and find a way to fix it.

I reached the BMA, the Transportation Ministry, Traffic Police, etc. but I was informed by each and every one that it was not their responsibility.

It's very convenient for these public servants to push the responsibility to other agencies.

It took over a month before one agency indicated that this was its job and it then took a while for that agency to allocate the funds to make it right.

I believe it was sheer luck that this road sign remained hanging unsteadily until it was eventually replaced.

There are many such dangerous road signs in Bangkok, or I have to say, across the whole country, and responsible agencies just ignore them, waiting until an accident occurs before going around to fix the problem.

By the time I write this article, the BMA's executives should know the results of their inspections of risky billboards that do not meet the requirements of the Building Control Act.

As for dangerous roads, there are about 70 risky spots where the BMA will install rubber strips and improve road signs to help prevent accidents. My concern is that we seem to only learn about these danger areas after lives have been lost when we should have known about them a long time ago as a result of regular maintenance work.

If there are no deaths, will any complaints or recommendations regarding public safety receive red-alert attention from government agencies or not? I myself remain doubtful.

If we look back at recent history, there was a period when robberies on pedestrian flyovers in Bangkok occurred frequently. The incidents prompted agencies concerned to brainstorm on how to solve the problem. It was agreed that more lights should be installed. Even now, however, I still see many flyovers that appear too dark to ensure safety for users. I maintain the hope of seeing flyovers with more lights in the near future and hope that we don't have to wait until more robberies occur.

Another example is shootings on public buses. An idea was floated of installing sirens on buses so the drivers can sound the alarm to draw attention and seek assistance in case of emergency. These measures were put forth years ago but no action has been taken. It will be brought up again after more people die.

We have paid attention to the national political situation with divided parties, colours and other big issues, but we forget to address matters that affect our everyday lives directly.

I hope this will be the last time we see enthusiasm after the fact so that we don't have to waste more lives before action is taken to fix problems.


Somporn Thapanachai is Deputy Business Editor, Bangkok Post.

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