178 Deaths and 1,755 Injuries in 3rd Day of Thailand’s New Years Holiday

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BANGKOK – The death toll in Thailand from road accidents during the first three days of the 7-day dangerous period starting December 29th-January 5th, climbed to 178 deaths and 1,755 injuries.

According to the Road Safety Center, so far 178 people died and 1,755 injured in a total of 1,691 cases in the past three days.

Chiang Mai topped the accumulated cases of 62 accidents and 63 accumulated cases of injuries while Chonburi came on top with eight death cases.

Driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding are two main causes of the road mishaps, or 26.49% and 19.47% respectively of total cases of accidents.

Motorcycle remain the vehicle that engaged in most cases of road accidents or 83.85 %.

Highways with straight sections registered the highest accidents or 64.35%, and most accidents happened during 4.00 pm– 8.00 pm, or 27.04%.

Thirty-nine people were killed on Tuesday, 65 on Wednesday, and 74 on New Year’s Eve.

Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, deputy spokeswoman of the National Council for Peace and Order, said yesterday that on Wednesday alone, Army officers manning checkpoints nationwide found 3,055 violations of the drunk-driving ban by motorcyclists, sent 3,395 of them to be cited for traffic offenses and impounded 334 motorbikes.

They caught 1,654 car or public-transport drivers violating the ban, took custody of the driver’s licences from 176 of them, passed 1,555 of them for booking and confiscated nine cars.

From December 25-30, officers detained 547 motorcycles and 65 cars and passed 4,375 motorcyclists and 2,219 car and public-transport drivers for legal action, she said.

Driving under the influence and speeding – at 20.2 per cent and 16.9 per cent – remained the major causes of accidents. Two-wheel vehicles accounted for 84.7 per cent of all accidents, she said.

Only Samut Prakan and Nong Khai provinces were accident-free. Ratchaburi had the most accidents at 32, while Chon Buri and Phetchaburi witnessed the most deaths at five each. Suphan Buri reported the most injuries at 45.

The 65,466 officials manning 2,103 checkpoints on Wednesday arrested 96,635 alleged lawbreakers – mostly for not carrying a driver’s licence at 28,324 cases and not wearing a safety helmet at 26,820 cases, Kobkarn said.

Holidaymakers continued streaming upcountry to welcome the new year with their families and loved ones. Transport hubs were crammed and highways, particularly those leading to the North and Northeast, were jammed.