BANGKOK: There were 2,203 road accidents, causing 264 deaths and 2,208 injuries, during the Songkran Festival from Apr 11-17, according to official figures released yesterday (Apr 18).
A capsized pickup truck rests on the Mitraparp Highway in Non Daeng district, Nakhon Ratchasima, after crashing into a power pole on Sunday (Apr 16). The two men in the truck were injured. Photo: Prasit Tangprasert
Interior deputy permanent secretary Chotenarin Kerdson said that on Monday, the last of the seven-day campaign for safe driving, there were 183 accidents with 16 deaths and 202 injuries.
Speeding contrbuted to 45% of the accidents on Monday, followed by sudden lane switching, about 17%, reports the Bangkok Post.
He said 80% of accidents involved motorcycles, and about 46% occurred on highways and about 30% on local tambon and village roads. Most, or 83.6%, of accidents occurred on straight roads. The most accident-prone period was 3pm-4pm, with 9.3% of all accidents.
Kanchanaburi recorded the highest number of accidents, 11, and highest number of injuries,13.
Chanthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Nan, Ratchaburi and Lamphun had the highest number of deaths – two each.
There were 1,869 main road checkpoints manned by 54,274 officials throughout the country. A total of 279,873 vehicles were stopped for examination and action taken against 39,611 traffic offenders – including 11,013 for driving without a licence and 10,530 for not wearing a safety helmet.
Mr Chotenarin, who is chairman of the road accidents prevention and reduction committee, said that throughout the seven-day campaign for safe driving from Apr 11-17, there were 2,203 accidents. causing 264 deaths and injuring 2,208 people.
The province with the most accidents, 68, was Chiang Rai. Bangkok had the most accumulated deaths, 22, and Nakhon Si Thammarat the most accumulated injuries, 70 people.
Phatthalung and Phangnga provinces in the South remained free of fatal accidents.
Boontham Lertsukhikasemsuk, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said during the seven-day campaign the number of accidents and injuries was slightly higher than last year, but road deaths were down 5%. The number of accidents from speeding was down 1.5% and drink-driving dropped by 3.26%.
Compared to the past three-years average, the number of injured was down 13% and road fatalities down 15%. The main causes of accidents were still speeding and drink-driving, and most accidents involved motorcycles, he said.
Most of the deaths and injuries were people riding motorcycles without a crash helmet.
