Over 900 lives were taken in road accidents across Laos in 2022; leading cause of deaths were drunk driving and speeding.
The Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security revealed in a report that the country saw 6,440 road accidents in Laos in 2022. Of these, 4,892 people suffered minor injuries, 1,333 received serious injuries, and 947 people died.
Vientiane Capital had the most accidents, with 1,092 road accidents, followed by Champasack with 787, Savanakhet with 608. Provinces without large cities reported fewer accidents: Vientiane Province with 573, Luang Prabang with 527, Luang Namtha with 422, and Bolikhamxay with 423.
The major causes of road accidents in Laos in 2022 was drunk driving, followed by speeding, and suddenly change in direction. Road accidents also were most likely to occur on Fridays and weekends. In total, road accidents in 2022 cost the economy over LAK 103 billion (over USD 6,000,000).
Additionally, the report stated that more than 3,800 motorists involved in an accident were driving without a license – over half – and more than 3,400 were driving without helmets. People between the ages of 17 and 18 had 1,779 total road accidents, while those under the age of 15 had over 1,000 road accidents.
Laos recorded a number of 5,576 road accidents throughout 2021 with over 800 deaths and an economic cost of LAK 92 billion (USD 5,473,972). This either means that road accidents have increased by 15 percent in the last year, with deaths increasing by 18 percent, or that the capacity for the government to respond and register accidents has improved.
