Road safety in Nepal — buses, accidents and what to do

The choices that reduce the risk most

• Travel by day. Night bus travel on mountain roads combines driver fatigue, poor visibility and reduced rescue capability. Almost every serious incident involving visitors follows this pattern.
• Avoid the monsoon on mountain roads where you can, and never travel a hill road at night during heavy rain.
• Choose the operator. Tourist buses and better long-distance companies have newer vehicles and less aggressive schedules than the cheapest local buses. The price difference is small.
• Do not ride on the roof, however common it looks. It is illegal and it is how people die in otherwise survivable incidents.
• Fly the long routes if the budget allows — Kathmandu to Pokhara, Bhairahawa or Biratnagar — accepting that mountain flights have their own weather-related cancellation problem.
• Wear a helmet on any two-wheeler, every time, including as a passenger.

Where to sit, and other small things

• On a mountain road, sit on the hillside rather than the valley side where you have a choice.
• Avoid the very front row — in a frontal impact it offers no protection — and the very back, which takes the worst of the ride.
• Use a seatbelt where one exists, which is more common on tourist buses than local ones.
• Keep your daypack with documents, money, phone and medication on you, not in the hold.
• Note the emergency exits and how the windows open. In a Nepali bus, the window is a realistic exit.
• If the driver is drunk, on the phone constantly, or overtaking blind on a mountain road, get off at the next stop. You are allowed to do this and you will not be the first.

If you are in an accident

• Get clear of the vehicle and the road. Secondary collisions on Nepali roads are a real risk, and a vehicle on a slope can move.
• Treat life threats — bleeding, breathing, consciousness. Do not move anyone with a suspected spinal injury unless they are in immediate danger.
• Call 100 (police), 102 (ambulance) and 103 (traffic police). Also tell your hotel, guide or agency, who will mobilise a faster local response.
• Photograph everything — the vehicles, the road, the plates, the injuries, the scene from several angles. This matters for insurance and for any liability question.
• Get the vehicle registration, the operator's name and the driver's details, and note any witnesses.
• Contact your insurer early. If evacuation to Kathmandu is needed, that is what the 24-hour line is for.

The Nepali crowd dynamic after an accident

Driving or riding yourself

• Check your travel insurance actually covers you. Many policies exclude motorcycling entirely, or exclude it without a licence valid for that engine size — and this is one of the most common reasons claims in Nepal are refused.
• You need a valid licence, and for foreigners that generally means an International Driving Permit alongside your home licence. Carry both.
• Helmets are mandatory and enforced. Wear a proper one, not a decorative shell.
• Traffic moves on the left, uses horns as communication rather than aggression, and treats lane markings as advisory. Larger vehicles have de facto priority.
• Expect police checkpoints. Have licence, permit and rental documents accessible, and stay polite.
• Do not ride at night outside cities, and do not ride mountain roads in the rain.

Domestic flights