Songkrans Latest Road Toll – 2,702 Traffic Accidents, 297 Dead and 2,807 Injured

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Road Safety Operation Center on Tuesday reported that from April 11 to 15, there were 2,702 traffic accidents which killed 297 people and injured 2,807 others.

On April 15 alone, there were 472 traffic accidents which killed 54 people and injured 494 others. Drink-driving was the most common cause of the accidents, resulting in 40.68% of all incidents while speeding caused 27.54% of all accidents. Motorcycles were involved in 78.85% of the accidents.

From April 11 to 15, there were 2,702 traffic accidents in which 297 people were killed and 2,807 others were injured.

Impaired driving cases accounted for 98% of traffic offenses during the past five days of the Songkran holidays, with 8,222 cases sent to courts.

On April 15 alone, there were 4,264 traffic offense cases sent to the courts, and 99.95% of them — all but two — were drink-driving cases, The other two were reckless driving cases, Department of Probation chief Prasarn Mahaleetrakul said on Tuesday.

The courts ordered use of electronic monitoring (EM) devices for 203 drunk drivers placed on probation. Those drivers would have the devices attached to their ankles and be barred from leaving their homes between 10pm and 4am for a period of 7-15 days, said Mr Prasarn.

The drunk drivers must report to probation officials four times and perform community service for 24 hours during the one-year probation period.

The accumulated number of offenders ordered to have monitoring devices attached to their ankles was 389 — 387 for drink-driving, and two for driving under the influence of drugs.

The department director-general said the accumulated number of traffic offence cases sent to the courts over the past five days, April 11 to 15, stood at 8,383 cases. The vast majority — 8,222, or 98.08% — were drink-driving cases. The others were driving under the influence of drugs (150 cases, or 1.79%) and reckless driving (11 cases, or 0.13%), said Mr Prasarn.