A traffic accident victim sits at the crash scene in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Thursday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)
Traffic accidents on the first two days of the government’s seven-day New Year road safety campaign claimed 85 lives and left 786 others injured, with Nakhon Ratchasima recording the highest death toll.
Nirat Pongsitthithaworn, deputy permanent secretary at the Interior Ministry, said on Friday that on Wednesday and Thursday there were 784 traffic accidents which killed 85 and injured 786.
Chiang Mai recorded the highest accidents at 31, Nakhon Ratchasima had the most deaths at seven and Loei reported the highest number of injured people at 32. Of 77 provinces, 46 remained free of traffic accident fatalities.
The most common cause of traffic accidents was speeding (33.7% of all accidents), followed by drink-driving (26.3%) and poor visibility (17.8%). Motorcycles were involved in 83.1% of all the accidents. (continued below)
On Thursday, there were 422 traffic accidents, 44 fatalities and 426 injured people. Speeding was the most common cause leading to 33.2% of the accidents, followed by drink-driving (29.6%) and poor visibility (16.4%). Motorcycles were involved in 82.7% of the total accidents.
Chiang Mai had the most accidents at 21 and the highest number of injured people, 19. Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Roi Et reported the most fatalities at three each.
At 1,911 checkpoints, 46,796 people faced legal action for violating traffic rules, including 14,484 who did not wear a crash helmet and 11,866 who drove without driving licences.
(Source: – Bangkok Post)