Two days down, nearly 100 deaths

[rooster59]

Two days down, nearly 100 deaths

By THE SUNDAY NATION

 

 

A TOTAL of 92 people were killed and 1,107 were injured during the first two days of the seven-day monitoring period for people travelling during the long New Year holidays.

 

On Friday, the second day of the so-called “seven dangerous New Year holidays”, 576 road accidents happened, killing 49 people and injuring 609, said Karun Sakulpradit, permanent secretary for the Education Ministry.

 

It was Karun’s turn to address journalists yesterday on the monitored road accident statistics at the Road Accidents Prevention and Reduction for 2018 New Year Operation Centre at the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. 

 

The accumulated statistics showed there were 1,053 accidents on Thursday and Friday, killing 92 people and injuring 1,107.

 

Karun said most – more than 42 per cent – had been caused by drunk driving, followed by speeding (23 per cent). 

 

He said most – nearly 78 per cent – of vehicles in the accidents were motorcycles. And most – about 68 per cent – of the accidents happened on straight roads. 

 

Karun said Nakhon Si Thammarat was the province with the highest number of accidents – 25. So far, Phitsanulok, Pathum Thani and Ubon Ratchathani had the highest number of deaths (3), while Nakhon Si Thammarat had the biggest number of injuries (29).

 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that he would assign the Transport Ministry to figure out how to improve road networks by creating web-like transport routes to avoid traffic congestion.

 

Prayut said heavy congestion often occurred during long holidays, like the New Year holidays, because most vehicles used the main roads. 

 

The prime minister said relevant government agencies must inform the people of alternative routes so that they could avoid the heavily congested main roads.

 

“The problem is that vehicles are meeting one another on all major roads. So, I would like the roads to be designed like a web that can be inter-connected,” Prayut said.

 

The prime minister said it still needed to be ascertained where the subsidiary and alternative routes could be built to supplement the main roads. He said the government might build short roads as bypasses for heavily congested main roads.

 

He added that the Transport Ministry had already improved several roads in the North and had reduced road accidents at sharp curves over the past three years.

 

Meanwhile, a total of 727 people were arrested for drunk driving on Thursday and Friday, a senior official said.

 

Thawatchai Thaikhiew, deputy permanent secretary at the Justice Ministry, said the data had been collected by the Corrections Department, which learned that 1,107 motorists had been arrested and would be given social service punishment because of bad driving over those two days. 

 

Of this, 727 were arrested for drunk driving, 43 for reckless driving, one for road racing, and 336 for testing positive for drug use while driving. He said 70 of the cases happened in Bangkok, 48 in Surin, 45 in Mahasarakham, 36 in Nonthaburi and 24 in Chachoengsao.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30335119

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-31

[ezzra]

Much talked about subject, the usual number of road fatalities for this

time of the year is around 400-500 dead, the price Thailand pays for

it's careless and unbridled boozing culture, when a person up in

the boonies is bent on drink driving/riding, nothing will stop him,

except maybe for a tree, concrete pylon or another car... 

[khwaibah]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Two days down, nearly 100 deaths

 

Whats the complaint? The national average is 65 deaths a day and this holiday its only 46 death per day. You should be proud of yourself OR someone is doing a fantastic job of doctoring the numbers..

[DoctorG]

92 will be considered as some sort of success by the authorities, but I doubt the affected families will share the satisfaction.

[AsianAtHeart]

As I expected, there is no mention of back-of-pickup-riders being a major contribution to road deaths.  In fact, there is no mention of them at all.  Does anyone know if there were any such deaths involved?

 

Clearly, the motorcycles are the least advantageous mode of travel in Thailand, in terms of safety.  The government has done the right thing to allow riding in the back of a pickup, reducing the need of motorcycle transport.  I wonder how many motorcycle riders succumb to fatigue on longer trips (4+ hours)?

[garyk]

A few years ago I drove back to my place during the holidays, it was the only time I have been really afraid to be driving a car. Extremely dangerous.

[DavidB4]

15 minutes ago, AsianAtHeart said:

As I expected, there is no mention of back-of-pickup-riders being a major contribution to road deaths.  In fact, there is no mention of them at all.  Does anyone know if there were any such deaths involved?

 

Clearly, the motorcycles are the least advantageous mode of travel in Thailand, in terms of safety.  The government has done the right thing to allow riding in the back of a pickup, reducing the need of motorcycle transport.  I wonder how many motorcycle riders succumb to fatigue on longer trips (4+ hours)?

Good points, I also wonder how many of the riders weren't wearing helmets? 

[RichardColeman]

24 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

92 will be considered as some sort of success by the authorities, but I doubt the affected families will share the satisfaction.

I do not think you are correct in this. The 30% reduction in the deaths - if it is - is hardly representative of the effort (probably 300%) currently being put in (supposedly) by the Thai police over this time of madness. Then again it may highlight that the Thai Traffic police need an investment of 1000% to get the figures any where near to acceptable by most countries standards

[Pattaya28]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

creating web-like transport routes to avoid traffic congestion.

What this mean ?

[connda]

He said most – nearly 78 per cent – of vehicles in the accidents were motorcycles. And most – about 68 per cent – of the accidents happened on straight roads.

 

I'd like to know the statistics on how many of the motorcycle accidents had a car involved.

[Pattaya28]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

727 were arrested for drunk driving and 336 for testing positive for drug use while driving

That's over 1,000.

What is going on ? 

Is there any hope ?

And I'm sure these stats are just a fraction of the real stats.

The real figure must be at minimum 10-fold the given stats. 

10,000 drugged / drunk motorists on the loose. All potential killers.

[anon467367354]

from my experience most motorcyclist and cars for that matter never look to the right when entering a road heading towards the left. It makes sense to me that on these long straight aways cars passing other cars or motorcycles for that matter get creamed.

For whatever reason, why people don't look to see if there is any oncoming traffic, but only seem to check if there anything in front or in their way is just plain stupid. I think somehow the concept of actually looking over ones shoulder rather than relying on mirrors only should be aggressively introduced, but good luck with that.

[connda]

I believe I read that the daily average in Thailand is either 61 or 66 fatalities per day.  So the daily carnage toll is down.  The news agencies should keep that daily statistic as a comparison. 

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, khwaibah said:

 

Whats the complaint? The national average is 65 deaths a day and this holiday its only 46 death per day. You should be proud of yourself OR someone is doing a fantastic job of doctoring the numbers..

Having the police force out in full, with breathalysers will bring the numbers down, but that is nothing to gloat about, it has to be a 24/7 thing, like in Australia, every police vehicle is a random breath tester RBT and they are literally everywhere, so to are red light cameras, speed cameras, radar detectors and anything else you can think of, step out of the speed limit and cop the heavy fines and loss of licence, and maybe jail time. Fear does have its effects. I am always keeping my eye on the speedometer when in Aus, that includes fixed red light cameras, etc, etc and don't drink more than 2 middies in an hour

Edited December 31, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[connda]

6 minutes ago, gr8fldanielle said:

from my experience most motorcyclist and cars for that matter never look to the right when entering a road heading towards the left. It makes sense to me that on these long straight aways cars passing other cars or motorcycles for that matter get creamed.

For whatever reason, why people don't look to see if there is any oncoming traffic, but only seem to check if there anything in front or in their way is just plain stupid. I think somehow the concept of actually looking over ones shoulder rather than relying on mirrors only should be aggressively introduced, but good luck with that.

Yeah, it's incredibly suicidal behavior which seems to have a cultural component.  I've never seen vehicles merge onto a thoroughfare without looking anywhere else I've driven in the world.  Sure, occasionally you'll see someone do it in a Western country, and you think to yourself, "Wow, that was stupid and if a cop was around he'd be getting a ticket."  Here in Thailand pulling out without looking is the norm.  And when it happens, who is that most at risk?  Motorcycle riders.  I can only imagine the amount of carnage that is caused by just this one example of highly dangerous driving behavior that is standard here in Thailand.  Failing to either stop or yield at intersections and then turning onto the main roads without even a glance at oncoming traffic.

[4MyEgo]

29 minutes ago, Pattaya28 said:

That's over 1,000.

What is going on ? 

Is there any hope ?

And I'm sure these stats are just a fraction of the real stats.

The real figure must be at minimum 10-fold the given stats. 

10,000 drugged / drunk motorists on the loose. All potential killers.

This is the problem, drunks and druggies on the road 24/7 with little if no police enforcement, to whipe out this problem or reduce it to an almost non existent level, the cops have to be on it 24/7, meaning investment to be injected into the force, fines to be very hefty and the police force to get better pay and promotion, making their roles more important, and less corrupt

 

[kelboy]

46 minutes ago, garyk said:

A few years ago I drove back to my place during the holidays, it was the only time I have been really afraid to be driving a car. Extremely dangerous.

That's why I stay at home all over Xmas and new year. 

[jenny2017]

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday that he would assign the Transport Ministry to figure out how to improve road networks by creating web-like transport routes to avoid traffic congestion.

 

Prayut said heavy congestion often occurred during long holidays, like the New Year holidays, because most vehicles used the main roads. 

 

It's like the little man's trying to reinvent the wheel once more. 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm..... these Thai road safety campaigns are absolutely lethal.....

[mok199]

staggering numbers...#1 EXCUSE...no resptect #2 excuse ..emboldenment ,#3 excuse.. emboldenment leading to entitlement...and the 4th excuse.''I DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPEND ,I HAD MY 4 WAYS ON''..

[jenny2017]

Karun said most – more than 42 per cent – had been caused by drunk driving, followed by speeding (23 per cent). 

 

He said most – nearly 78 per cent – of vehicles in the accidents were motorcycles. And most – about 68 per cent – of the accidents happened on straight roads. 

 

Karun said Nakhon Si Thammarat was the province with the highest number of accidents – 25. So far, Phitsanulok, Pathum Thani and Ubon Ratchathani had the highest number of deaths (3), while Nakhon Si Thammarat had the biggest number of injuries (29)

 

Who's doing the math?\

 

Regarding a cop, it was Sisaket with the highest death rate. But that didn't make it out of the police station? 

 

n 2015 the Department of Disaster Prevention, which is tasked with road safety in addition to problems like floods and landslides, boldly announced a target of reducing road deaths by 80%.

 

What a shitty job the Department of Disaster Prevention did? 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38660283

Edited December 31, 2017 by jenny2017

[biggles45]

"from my experience most motorcyclist and cars for that matter never look to the right when entering a road heading towards the left"

 

Agree 100%, any foreigner riding here and keeping to the left soon learns how dangerous that can be. Reminds me of how young children fix their attention on their destination and only focus directly in front of them. 

[sammieuk1]

About 68 per cent  of the accidents happened on straight roads and probably thats about the total driving figure that just can't drive nor ever will be able to .

The numbers could be slashed by removing Thai's from driving pick ups sitting in a lofty position gives them some kind of perceived invincibility on the road and maybe foreign divers could work legally here as it's a job that Thai's just can't do.

Edited December 31, 2017 by sammieuk1

[AsianAtHeart]

2 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

"from my experience most motorcyclist and cars for that matter never look to the right when entering a road heading towards the left"

 

Agree 100%, any foreigner riding here and keeping to the left soon learns how dangerous that can be. Reminds me of how young children fix their attention on their destination and only focus directly in front of them. 

Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that not just foreigners learn this, but everyone learns this, and the "passing lane" becomes the usual lane of travel.  Then, when someone wants to pass, they must use the supposedly normal/slow lane, in order to get around all of the slow vehicles in the "fast lane."  This effectively pits the fastest traffic against the slowest, maximizing the potential fatalities.  U-turns do the same thing, pitting the "fast lane" against the parked-waiting-to-turn U-turners--in the same lane, of course.

 

Traffic engineering in Thailand has yet a few lessons to learn.

[dinsdale]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

1,107 were injured

And how many of these will die in hospital after the 24hr period and not be included in the fatality stats.

[peperobi]

The average for the year is 71 peoples at day, so is looking quite good so far...or not?

 

[lvr181]

It's a start but a long way to go. And needs to be done ALL YEAR not just for holidays to have any meaningful effect. Does Government and the RTP have the will power and the discipline to do that? 

 

And be truthful, for once, and add back in to the statistics those who subsequently die in hospital from the adverse effects of road trauma. 

[Cranky]

A dog is not just for Christmas.  IF this police activity is actually reducing numbers during a period numbers usually increase it should be standard all year round.   

 

There are enough of them unless they have something better to do?

 

 

[jorgenweihrauch]

This is sick - Government has to do something effektive about peoples driving and bad attitude  

[Sir Dude]

The figures announced here for all sorts of things can't be trusted and mean nothing.