Thailand's roads once again deadly during the Holiday Season!
My friends, fellow ex-pats and tourists, please be careful this holiday season. The roads here in Thailand like anywhere else can be very dangerous especially during the holiday season. Please don't drink and drive. Check out the early statistics from "The Nation"
Road accidents kill 86 in first 2 days of holidays
Pongphon Sarnsamak,
Prasit Tangprasert
The Nation
Rescue workers tend to people injured in a
car accident
in Phitsanulok yesterday. Six people were injured in the crash after a
speeding pickup crossed a traffic island and hit this sedan head-on.
BANGKOK:
-- Police say 474 road accidents killed 86 people and injured 885
between Friday and Saturday, the first two days of the so-called "seven
dangerous days".
The
road toll is expected to rise further over the coming days.
Yesterday, the Road Safety Centre released statistics from road accidents reported on Friday and Saturday only.
Drunk driving and speeding were
the major causes of accidents during the opening days of the festive
period, according to Department of Probation director-general Ruenvadee
Suwanmong-kol, who chaired yesterday's press conference.
Reports say 37 per cent of road accidents resulted from drunk driving
and 23 per cent from high-speed driving; while 81.5 per cent of road
accidents involved motorcycles. Most of the motorcycle casualties were
not wearing a helmet.
Main roads were the site of 61 per cent of the accidents and 34.6 per
cent occurred on village roads. Highways saw 34.3 per cent of all
accidents, most of which took place between 4pm and 8pm.
Some 611,600
cars and vehicles
were inspected at police checkpoints and 100,587 cases resulted in
arrests. Infractions included 31,020 drivers without a licence, and
28,092 motorcyclists without a helmet.
Nakhon Si Thammarat had the highest number of road accidents and number of injured people, with 23 and 25 respectively.
Ayutthaya had the highest number of deaths from road accidents, with
five cases. Only four provinces recorded no road accidents during this
period: Chaiyaphum, Bueng Kan, Rayong and Samut Songkhram.
Ruenvadee said the centre had ordered provincial authorities nationwide
to help eliminate road accidents on main and secondary roads in the
cities, especially near entertainment venues.
Police are urged to arrest those who drink and drive, drive at
high speed, or ride motorcycles without a helmet.
The New Year holidays are associated with danger as millions of people hit the road on vacation or visits to home provinces.
Chutipong Sukarayotin, a player of the Thai national beach volleyball
team, was driving to his home province of Udon Thani when he suddenly
fell asleep behind the wheel in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday morning.
His
car slammed into a telephone booth.
"The crash woke me up," the 21-year-old man said.
He said he left Bangkok at about 5pm on Saturday but with the traffic
jammed, the trip took so long he became tired and fell asleep.
"Fortunately, I had my safety belt on and my car had an air bag. So,
I've survived," Chutipong said. "But I've learnt a lesson now.
"I’ll never drive the whole night again."
Police have charged Chutipong with reckless driving and causing damage to the property of others.
-- The Nation 2013-12-30
