Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to 1) study the effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area 2) study the factors influencing the effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area and 3) propose guidelines to improve the effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area. This research used mixed methods combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative research consisted of documentary research, focus group discussions with 8 accident experts selected by purposive sampling and in-depth interviews of 24 key informants including academics who were expert in traffic issues, top executives and practitioners from the public sector, private organizations or networks. There were selected by purposive sampling. The data were analyzed by analytic induction and interpretation. The quantitative research employed a sample of 345 respondents following Taro Yamanes formula from a population of 2,500 people, 209 top executives and practitioners of the public sector, 3 persons of private organizations networks of accident reduction campaigns as well as 133 regular drivers. It was selected by multi-stage sampling. The tool for data collection was a 4-level rating scale questionnaire and the data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and stepwise regression analysis. The results of the research were as follows: 1) The effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area was, overall of practices, at a high level ( = 2.54, S.D. = 0.58). Ranked from high to low were the aspects of satisfaction ( = 2.61, S.D. = 0.64), participation ( = 2.60, S.D. = 0.73) and objectives attainment ( = 2.50, S.D. = 0.74). The documentary research and in-depth interviews were summarized and revealed that the amount of road accidents has reduced and the number of casualties and injured were also down. The master plan for road safety, as a national agenda, determined the target for the number of casualties from road accidents to be 14.15 per 100,000 people or 9,069 people per year by the end of 2012. Furthermore, the road safety executive center declared that the decade of road safety A.D. 2011-2020, was to have a target rate of less than 10 casualties as per the Moscow declaration of the United Nations. The management results for Thailands road accidents during 2011-2013 were 14.88, 15.07 and 13.32, respectively while the number of road accident in the Bangkok Metropolitan was 6.21 thus attaining targets and meeting the international standards of safety as stated in the road safety master plan 2013-2016. 2) The factors influencing the effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area obtained from the qualitative research were the following (1) the policy factor; there was unity of policy which followed the current national policy led by the road safety executive center who was authorized to determine and recommend policies and strategies to upgrade road safety standards and Thailand road safety action plan for 2004-2008 under the strategies of 5E. While Bangkok Metropolitan was driving by road safety executive center of Bangkok Metropolitan and formulated the plan or project and allocated budgets (2) the management factor; the agency was diversely related for its policy implementation but had low levels of coordination. Legal measures were not enforced appropriately, there was a lack of integrated planning. The authority of traffic and transport management as well as accident prevention had overlaps and there were problems with city planning and the road system, (3) the roads users factor; this was the most important factor for road accidents. The critical problem was lack of discipline and respect for traffic rules and regulations. The authorized agency must campaign to develop human capital awareness for concerning road safety. The quantitative research identified the overall factors influencing the effectiveness which was ranked from the partial regression coefficient. These were the management factor (β = 0.31), the policy factor (β = 0.29) and the road users factor (β = 0.28). These 3 factors explained 17.00 percent (R2= 0.17) of the effectiveness of road accident reduction in the area of Bangkok Metropolitan. 3) The proposed guidelines to improve the effectiveness of road accident reduction management in the Bangkok Metropolitan area were reviewed by the 8 experts in the focus group discussions and synthesized from the research findings. They were (1) the traffic and accident prevention policy; proposes that the national and local agency closely coordinate their efforts, decentralize law enforcement, decrease the level of bureaucracy, and establish Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM), which must be connected to the cooperation between the government and the Bangkok Metropolitan (2) the management; should hold public hearings on the level of devotion that the Bangkok Metropolitan has on the development of the transport system and traffic law, the restructuring of the city planning, and the rigorous enforcement concerning the driving licenses and (3) the road users; the related agencies need to develop the quality of the human capital, both for the drivers and the road users to increase safety awareness and discipline. It must revisit the justice process of traffic lawsuits especially when the drivers were the cause of the accidents due to negligent or illegal maneuvers.