Thai New Year Claims 333 Lives in 2,707 Road Accidents

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Boontham Letsukheekasem said on Wednesday that 333 people died and 2,672 were injured in 2,707 road accidents on the seven deadly days of the New Year holiday.

In comparison with last year, the total number of deaths, injuries, and accidents decreased considerably. However, many people chose not to travel over the New Year holiday due to the recent surge in Omicron cases.

There were 3,333 accidents, 392 fatalities, and 3,326 injuries in the New Year 2021.

A strenuous road safety campaign and the cooperation of motorists are credited with the decline, according to Mr Boontham. However, he never mentioned people staying home due to Omicron concerns.

There were 209 traffic accidents reported on Tuesday, the last day of the Dec 29-Jan 4 road safety campaign, resulting in 21 deaths and 202 injuries.

On Tuesday, speeding was responsible for 34.45% of accidents, sudden lane switching was responsible for 25.36 %, and drink-driving was responsible for 21.05 %.

Chiang Mai Takes Tops Spot for Road Accidents and Injuries

There were 82.04% motorcycle accidents and 6.31% pickup accidents. Eighty-two percent of the crashes occurred on straight roads, and 10.53% occurred between 6 and 7 p.m. Most of the fatalities and injuries occurred in the 40-59 age group, or 17.49%.

The Songkhla province reported the most accidents (11) and Nakhon Sawan reported the most road deaths (3) on Tuesday; Songkhla also had the highest number of injured (11).

The number of vehicles pulled over for inspections totalled 388,227, while 78,340 drivers were charged with various offences. According to Mr Boontham, this included 23,131 motorcyclists for not wearing a crash helmet and 20,023 for not having a license.

Between Dec 29 and Jan 4, there were 2,707 road accidents, resulting in 333 deaths and 2,672 injuries.

The province with the most accidents was Chiang Mai (96); Bangkok had the highest number of road deaths (22), and Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi both had the highest number of combined injuries (93 each).

During the seven days, nine provinces were reported to have had zero road deaths: Trang, Pattani, Phangnga, Yala, and Satun in the South; Nakhon Nayok and Samut Songkhram in the Central region; and Sukhothai and Phrae in the North.

Boontham pointed out that the overall reduction in casualties and accidents was a step towards the goal of reducing the road accident death rate to 12 per 100,000 by 2027.