Last-stretch traffic safety effort as road statistics improve over holiday

[webfact]

Last-stretch traffic safety effort as road statistics improve over holiday

By THE NATION

 

Hua Lamphong Train Station yesterday sees holidaymakers returning to Bangkok from their hometowns as the New Year holiday ended. People were seen bringing back rice and dried food to cut down on living expenses in the capital.

 

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha urged officers to strictly enforce traffic laws and provide security for people on the roads and at public transport stations as they travelled back to Bangkok on the last day of the New Year long weekend yesterday.

 

The large number of vehicles on the roads at the same time resulted in heavy congestion on motorways, while traffic police said they were trying their best to speed up the flow by opening special lanes.

 

Government spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prayut had ordered all officers to enforce the traffic law strictly and facilitate travellers’ safe return to the capital.

 

Sansern said statistics until yesterday had shown were fewer accidents, deaths and injuries than last year, which signified the effectiveness of the government’s road safety campaign.

 

However, he said officers still had to work hard to prevent accidents on the last day of the New Year holidays, since so many people were travelling.

 

Sansern said officers were working hard to deter three main contributory factors to road accidents: Driving while drunk, speeding and reckless driving.

 

 

“The PM also emphasised that officers provide security for all passengers and their belongings at all bus terminals, train stations and airports, because criminals may take advantage of the crowded period situation to commit crimes,” he said.

 

According to Road Safety Operation Centre statistics for the fifth day of the seven-day New Year period, there had been 3,056 accidents causing 317 deaths and 3,188 injuries. This was lower than the fifth day for the 2016-2017 New Year period, when the total was 367 deaths and 3,342 injuries.

 

Drunk driving threat

 

Public Health Ministry spokesman Dr Opas Kankawinpong said that despite the improvement in the situation, the biggest problem remained drunk driving, with more than 46 per cent of road accidents caused by inebriated drivers.

 

 

Opas added that more than 23 per cent of young people under 20 years old who suffered in accidents were inebriated at the time. It is against the law to sell alcohol to people younger than 20.

 

“As we are approaching the final stage of the seven monitoring days, and many people are travelling back to Bangkok, the Public Health Ministry would like to warn drivers against dangerous behaviours such as drinking and driving while sleepy, because it will increase the risk of causing a road accident,” he said.

 

“Drivers should be well-rested before they start a journey and, if it is long drive, there should be someone who can replace the main driver, or the driver should take regular breaks to help them remain fresh and ready to drive safely.”

 

 

On the last day of New Year holidays, many major highways in the North, Northeast and South were reportedly to be clogged with heavy traffic, as many people were travelling back to Bangkok.

 

For instance, on Mittraphap Road, the main highway to the northeastern region, traffic congestion was reported at a bottleneck point on the highway in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sikhiu District. Traffic police had to open two special lanes stretching 20 kilometres to relieve the traffic problem.

 

Traffic congestion was also reported on Phahonyothin Road, the main northern highway, in Phayao, where traffic stood still for at least a kilometre at some points.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30335228

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-03

[ezzra]

In the bottom picture, the policeman holding and aiming a radar speed gun

at vehicles while slowing/stopping at the checkpoint?

what is he hopping to catch? someone flying through the barriers?

is this how they use speed guns in Thailand?....

[DoctorG]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

In the bottom picture, the policeman holding and aiming a radar speed gun

at vehicles while slowing/stopping at the checkpoint?

what is he hopping to catch? someone flying through the barriers?

is this how they use speed guns in Thailand?....

It might be like the pit lane speed limit in F1. They might incur a penalty and have to go round the circuit again.

[berybert]

That top pictures shows they are clueless. 

"Sir you look tired after a long days driving, here, have this energy drink and you should be OK for another 12 hour stint".

[singhajim]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

In the bottom picture, the policeman holding and aiming a radar speed gun

at vehicles while slowing/stopping at the checkpoint?

what is he hopping to catch? someone flying through the barriers?

is this how they use speed guns in Thailand?....

Picture also shows two radar speed guns. Calibration check/test. If the radar speed gun cannot be proven to be accurate, the police will have no chance of securing any conviction in court.

[PatOngo]

8 minutes ago, singhajim said:

Picture also shows two radar speed guns. Calibration check/test. If the radar speed gun cannot be proven to be accurate, the police will have no chance of securing any conviction in court.

On the spot fines is the preferred method of collection.

[tokachinter]

If, indeed the New Year's road toll has been lowered, then I congratulate all concerned, especially the police who were out on the roads while the rest of us were celebrating.

[Airbagwill]

55 minutes ago, singhajim said:

Picture also shows two radar speed guns. Calibration check/test. If the radar speed gun cannot be proven to be accurate, the police will have no chance of securing any conviction in court.

this underlines one of the 5 Es = "enforcement" - the problem being that as you say, we don't know how well these machines are calibrated. BBUT - as the separation of police and judiciary is not apparently, those with thr guns administer the fines - often on the spot. anyone who lives in Thailand knows that any legal challenge (in a democracy a basic human right) could take years and cost a fortune. so before road safety laws can be effectively enforced there needs to be a change in te relationship between the the police d the judiciary, and a system for administering any subsequent penalties.......at present none of the is exist in Thailand.

[hobobo]

52 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

On the spot fines is the preferred method of collection.

I wonder why..... No, don't even think like that!

[Thian]

Guess it's just a matter of time before the developed countries like Europe/USA/Australia/Japan will not allow Thai to drive on their roads with only Thai driverslicense.

 

Maybe that will wake them up to start changing their way of driving vehicles.

[GarryP]

1 minute ago, Thian said:

Guess it's just a matter of time before the developed countries like Europe/USA/Australia/Japan will not allow Thai to drive on their roads with only Thai driverslicense.

 

Maybe that will wake them up to start changing their way of driving vehicles.

Actually that is not a bad idea. 

[Lite Beer]

1 hour ago, tokachinter said:

If, indeed the New Year's road toll has been lowered, then I congratulate all concerned, especially the police who were out on the roads while the rest of us were celebrating.

Yes the police are doing a wonderful job.

We can only salute them for showing such a high rate of selfless professionalism in carrying out their duty.  

[sammieuk1]

Just convince Thais crashing hurts and can be life ending no need for speed guns police or fines we don't want to go west just safe.

[Pdavies99]

Improved?? Just less dead, so I guess they think that's an improvement! 

[Chongalulu]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

In the bottom picture, the policeman holding and aiming a radar speed gun

at vehicles while slowing/stopping at the checkpoint?

what is he hopping to catch? someone flying through the barriers?

is this how they use speed guns in Thailand?....

He’s being careful not to measure a speed which is higher then he can count. 

[Chongalulu]

33 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Just convince Thais crashing hurts and can be life ending no need for speed guns police or fines we don't want to go west just safe.

Just what level of IQ are we assuming if they need convincing of that?

[ThaiFelix]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Opas added that more than 23 per cent of young people under 20 years old who suffered in accidents were inebriated at the time. It is against the law to sell alcohol to people younger than 20

I was at a new years eve with the Thai wifes family when one of the nephews came home.  He is 17 years old and he was drunk.  Both his parents laughed at him because he was so drunk.  He gathered some food from the table, got back on his bike without helmet again and took off.  His parents never said a word!  I cant say anything because I am already in the bad books for criticizing his father for having a "back door" drivers license saying he should learn the road rules and do the tests for his families sake.  What hope do the young ones have with parents like that.

[wvavin]

It was reported an improve but where? 

[crutchy26]

Lies, damn lies & statistics. Go for a drive in a 15 minute period on a main road and look at what the lunatics (future statistics) are doing. And not a road-rules-enforcement vehicle in sight!

[farcanell]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

Guess it's just a matter of time before the developed countries like Europe/USA/Australia/Japan will not allow Thai to drive on their roads with only Thai driverslicense.

 

Maybe that will wake them up to start changing their way of driving vehicles.

Australia is currently looking at this issue, with talk about changing the standard of international drivers license requirements, due to high stats on dead tourists (I think I saw something like 10% of deaths being tourists, somewhere in queen land.)

[French mate]

4 hours ago, Thian said:

Guess it's just a matter of time before the developed countries like Europe/USA/Australia/Japan will not allow Thai to drive on their roads with only Thai driverslicense.

 

Maybe that will wake them up to start changing their way of driving vehicles.

Its already the case to some point, In France Thai driving licence wont get you a french driving licence, you have to do all the mandatory lesson and exam like anyone who first learn,  while the french licence allow you to get a thai licence without exam other than the physical check.

The problem is if as thai you get an international driving licence,  since its a large international agreement  they can drive with it for 1 year in France (or anywhere else in europe).

[BernieOnTour]

... just trying to set those traffic statistics into perspective for some of the Thai bashers ...

 

> Thailand's estimated road traffic death rate (per 100,000 population) stands at

                                     36.2 this year

(source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1376875/thailand-tops-road-death-ranking-list )

 

> The murder rate in 5 cities in the US - St.Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Newark - is in the range of  

                                     59.8 - 35.5 per 100,000 .

(source: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/11/13/americas-25-murder-capitals-2/6/ )

 

So:

The probability to die by murder in St. Louis is a staggering 66 % higher than to die in a road accident in Thailand...

 

Maybe, instead of laughing about the ability of the RTP, we should better discuss the inability of the US Police force ...

 

 

 

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, farcanell said:

Australia is currently looking at this issue, with talk about changing the standard of international drivers license requirements, due to high stats on dead tourists (I think I saw something like 10% of deaths being tourists, somewhere in queen land.)

Except that motoring orgs who collate the stats say that they do not support this action as tourist deaths in Oz are a tiny fraction of the total.

[Airbagwill]

2 hours ago, crutchy26 said:

Lies, damn lies & statistics. Go for a drive in a 15 minute period on a main road and look at what the lunatics (future statistics) are doing. And not a road-rules-enforcement vehicle in sight!

Sadly like so many, you confuse perception with reality. This is exactly what successive Thai governments have been doing which is why their appraoch has been a flop for the last 30 years.

[Chongalulu]

16 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

... just trying to set those traffic statistics into perspective for some of the Thai bashers ...

 

> Thailand's estimated road traffic death rate (per 100,000 population) stands at

                                     36.2 this year

(source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1376875/thailand-tops-road-death-ranking-list )

 

> The murder rate in 5 cities in the US - St.Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Newark - is in the range of  

                                     59.8 - 35.5 per 100,000 .

(source: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/11/13/americas-25-murder-capitals-2/6/ )

 

So:

The probability to die by murder in St. Louis is a staggering 66 % higher than to die in a road accident in Thailand...

 

Maybe, instead of laughing about the ability of the RTP, we should better discuss the inability of the US Police force ...

 

 

 

Sorry but that’s a  'whataboutery" argument and nonsensical to conflate the two. It’s pretty easy to avoid going into high crime areas but for most living here ,venturing onto absurdly dangerous Thai Roads isn’t a realistically avoidable option. Oh,and it isn’t the US police force that’s at fault,it’s the right to bear arms law enshrined in their constitution in USA that’s the problem .

[Jonmarleesco]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

while traffic police said they were trying their best to speed up the flow by opening special lanes.

They have extra lanes? What happens to them when the traffic is just the normal chaos? Revert to pavements?

[Jonmarleesco]

32 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

... just trying to set those traffic statistics into perspective for some of the Thai bashers ...

 

> Thailand's estimated road traffic death rate (per 100,000 population) stands at

                                     36.2 this year

(source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1376875/thailand-tops-road-death-ranking-list )

 

> The murder rate in 5 cities in the US - St.Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Newark - is in the range of  

                                     59.8 - 35.5 per 100,000 .

(source: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/11/13/americas-25-murder-capitals-2/6/ )

 

So:

The probability to die by murder in St. Louis is a staggering 66 % higher than to die in a road accident in Thailand...

 

Maybe, instead of laughing about the ability of the RTP, we should better discuss the inability of the US Police force ...

 

 

 

You're confusing 'Thai bashing' with realistic observations of the reality of Thai driving abilities.

[tinca tinca]

5 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

Yes the police are doing a wonderful job.

We can only salute them for showing such a high rate of selfless professionalism in carrying out their duty.  

you must be joking I passed many police check points all were either on phones or just sat down talking......did not get stopped at any of them

[Russell17au]

Here are the figures for day 6 plus the latest updated figures for the previous 5 days

Here is a breakdown and a comparison for 2015, 2016 and this year that I have done of the road carnage figures on a daily basis with a comparison total for the 7 days.

 

Please note, all deaths are recorded regardless of whether it happened at the scene of the accident or not. If someone died a few days later in hospital, they are added to the tally, as long as it is within the so-called “7 dangerous days”.

 

The information for this has been acquired from several source's including MSN, The National, Bangkok Post, ThaiVisa News and Richard Barrow

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, Russell17au said:

Here are the figures for day 6 plus the latest updated figures for the previous 5 days

Here is a breakdown and a comparison for 2015, 2016 and this year that I have done of the road carnage figures on a daily basis with a comparison total for the 7 days.

 

Please note, all deaths are recorded regardless of whether it happened at the scene of the accident or not. If someone died a few days later in hospital, they are added to the tally, as long as it is within the so-called “7 dangerous days”.

 

The information for this has been acquired from several source's including MSN, The National, Bangkok Post, ThaiVisa News and Richard Barrow

"The information for this has been acquired from several source's including MSN, The National, Bangkok Post, ThaiVisa News and Richard Barrow - these are not primary sources - in fact they are all probably using the same source...i suspect it is the police who basically don't have a very professional record when it comes to collating stats.

thhy are also failing to gather stats in an internationally recognised format.

As deaths are recored up to 30days from the  crash, then the stats would change.

they also don't record things in terms of serious and minor injury.