Thailand enters the annual “seven dangerous days” today (Dec 28) with sirens already sounding over efforts to meet its 2027 goal of cutting the appalling death toll from traffic accidents.
Road traffic fatalities currently stand at 25 for every 100,000 people – more than double the 12 per 100,000 targeted within the next four years. Also worth noting is that these figures do not reflect the thousands of accident victims left disabled for life.
The seven dangerous days occur over the New Year holidays when Thais hit the road in their millions for holidays or visits to their hometowns.
Last year, the seven days from December 29 to January 4 produced 2,440 accidents, killing 317 people and injuring 2,437 others. The most common causes of accidents were speeding (37.5%), drunk driving (25.49%), and swerving between traffic lanes (18.69%). Alarmingly, tests showed that over 50% of…
