During the New Year holidays from December 29 to January 4, a nationwide road safety campaign faced a significant challenge with 385 road accidents occurring on just the second day. These incidents resulted in 404 injuries and 37 fatalities, according to information revealed by Justice Minister Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong and the Road Safety Directing Centre.
Tak, a northern province, reported the highest numbers of accidents and injuries, both reaching 18. However, Bangkok had the highest fatalities, with four deaths. Encouragingly, 37 provinces recorded no fatalities during this period.
Speeding was the primary cause, contributing to 34.55% of accidents, followed by drunk driving at 22.60%. Motorcycles were involved in a staggering 85.29% of these accidents. The majority, about 80.52%, occurred on straight roads, with highways (38.44%) and rural roads (35.32%) being the most affected. The most critical time for accidents was between 6:01 pm to 7:00 pm, and the most affected age group was between 20 to 29 years old.
On Saturday, the country deployed 51,408 personnel across 1,774 safety checkpoints. The data from the second day added up to a total of 724 accidents, 739 injuries, and 71 fatalities within the first two days of the week-long safety campaign.
The Department of Probation reported 644 traffic law violations from December 29 to December 30, with a staggering 95.81% due to drunk driving. Samut Prakan had the highest number of drink-driving cases at 78, followed by Bangkok with 69 and Chiang Mai with 58 instances.
The World Health Organization’s records suggest that Thailand’s roads claim an average of 60 lives daily throughout the year. This hints that the figures provided by the Road Safety Directing Centre might underestimate the actual fatality rate, possibly due to some injured victims succumbing to their injuries later on.
