Road accidents kill 40 more people on Monday as holiday death toll climbs to 263
Road accidents on Monday claimed 40 lives, taking the total death toll in the first five of the so-called “7 dangerous days” to 263, the Road Safety Centre said on Tuesday.
Boontham Lertsukhikasem, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and secretary-general of the centre, told the press that 294 road accidents had occurred on Monday, which left 295 people injured and 40 dead.
The centre has been monitoring road accidents since December 29 and will keep a close eye on roads until January 4, when the New Year break wraps up.
The centre has been holding a daily press conference to provide updates on road casualties to remind travellers to be more careful.
Here is a break-up of road accident data on Monday:
Top causes of accidents
• Speeding - 36.73%
• Drunk driving - 23.13%
Vehicle type with the most accidents
• Motorcycles - 79.40%
Where most accidents took place
• Straight roads - 79.59%
Location of most accidents
• Highways - 37.41%
• Village roads - 32.31%
Time of most accidents
• 12.01am to 1am - 8.50%
Age-range of most casualties
• 20-29 - 18.51%
Boontham said relevant agencies have taken steps to reduce road accidents. On Monday, a total of 55,861 officials were deployed to man 1,880 road checkpoints nationwide.
On Monday alone, 397,459 vehicles were stopped, and legal action taken against 57,635 motorists and motorcyclists.
Of those facing legal action, 16,783 will be charged with driving without a licence, 16,320 for riding motorbikes without a helmet and 7,394 for exceeding the speed limit among others.
Nakhon Si Thammarat province reported the highest number of road accidents with 14 recorded on Monday and the highest number of injuries at 17.
Meanwhile, Si Sa Ket province had the highest number of deaths at five on Monday.
Boontham said the total number of road accidents in the first five days were 1,960, leaving 1,938 people injured and killing 263 people.
Over the past five days, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Sakon Nakhon provinces have had the highest number of road accidents at 65 each, Nakhon Si Thammarat had the highest number of injured victims at 70 and Chiang Rai province the highest number of road deaths at 13.
Six provinces — Narathiwat, Bueng Kan, Phang Nga, Yala, Satun and Sukhothai — did not report any road deaths, he said.
Boontham said the volume of vehicles on Thai roads has dropped as most people had already finished their New Year travels.
"However, provincial authorities have been instructed to check motorists' speeding as that would a source of serious road accidents," he said.
He advised motorists to follow traffic laws strictly and be kind to others, to ensure safe travel for all.
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