The second day of the official campaign to reduce fatal traffic accidents during the “7 Dangerous days” period from December 28-January 3 claimed another 49 lives and 609 injuries.
Fatal accidents in two days raised total death toll to 92 deaths, and 1,107 injuries in a total of 1,053 traffic accidents.
The first day already claimed 43 lives and over 500 injuries from a total of 477 cases of traffic accidents on highways and roads throughout the country on December 28.
Road Safety Centre deputy director Karun Sakulpradit said 49 people died and 609 were injured in a total of 576 traffic incidents yesterday, the second day of the safety driving campaign.
He said the main cause of the fatal accidents remained drink driving (42.19%), followed by speeding (23.25%).
He said motorcycles continued to be the vehicle that is involved in most fatal traffic accidents (77.57%), and pickup trucks (6.07%).
He said most fatal accidents happened on straight sections of highways (40.80%), and secondary roads (32.12%).
The time of most accidents is between 4.00pm and 8.00pm (32.81%).
He said Nakhon Si Thammarat has the highest accumulated traffic accidents of 44 cases, while Si Sa Ket has the highest death toll of seven deaths.
It’s interesting to note that most accidents occurred on straight stretches of road which would suggest that speeding was involved in all of those. The simple fact is that a lot of Thais are in the habit of driving too fast, regardless of whether alcohol is involved.
The authorities must start addressing the problem of speeding and dangerous driving by getting more traffic police patrolling the highways.
(Source:-Thai PBS)