Speeding top cause of 71 road fatalities on first 2 of Thailand's '7 dangerous days'
The first two of the New Year break’s so-called “seven dangerous days” saw 71 people killed and 339 injured in 724 road accidents nationwide, the road safety centre said on Sunday.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told the press that on Saturday alone, 37 people were killed and 404 injured in 385 road accidents nationwide. The data was released by the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
The government has assigned the road safety centre to monitor the roads during the seven days, when thousands will be travelling out of the capital to their hometowns or to holiday destinations. The roads are usually heavily congested just before the New Year holidays and just after when people start returning.
This year the monitoring period will run from December 29 to January 4. Previously this period was called the “seven dangerous days” but now the authorities want it to be known as the “seven days for campaigning for safe driving”.
Tawee said the biggest cause of the accidents on Saturday was speeding (34.55%) followed by drunk driving (22.60%).
Most of the accidents or 85.29% involved motorcycles and most (80.52%) took place on straight roads.
As of Saturday, 51,408 officials have been deployed to man 1,774 checkpoints across the country.
Tak province in the lower North of Thailand encountered 18 accidents, the highest in the country, on Saturday, Tawee said.
The accumulated death toll over Friday and Saturday came in at 71 with 739 total people injured from a total of 724 accidents.
The highest number of accidents, so far, have taken place in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen with 31, while both Khon Kaen and Tak have seen the highest number of people getting injured at 30 each.
Tawee said on Sunday that tight checks will be conducted against drunk driving, especially on New Year’s Eve when many people are expected to drink at countdown parties.
Chaiwat Junthirapong, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said officials will step up checks on motorists and motorcyclists at the entrances of villages and communities on Sunday night to stop speeding and drunk driving.
