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Road accidents claim 186 lives in first 3 days of New Year holidays in Thailand


Jonathan Fairfield

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Road accidents claim 186 lives in first 3 days of New Year holidays

 

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The first three days of the notorious ‘Seven Dangerous Days’ of the New Year holidays saw 186 deaths and more than 1,600 injured in road accidents, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported on Friday.

 

The road accidents occurred from December 29-31.

 

Thailand tends to see a huge spike in road accidents during long festival holidays because of the large number of people travelling from their places of work or business to their hometowns or to visit relatives.

 

“On December 31, there were 652 accidents with 67 deaths and 642 people injured,” said Chainarong Wasanasomsit, deputy director-general. “Accumulated accidents from December 29-31 are at 1,652 with 186 deaths and 1,654 injured.

 

“The most common cause of accidents is drunk driving (38.04 per cent), followed by speeding (34.36 per cent) and  Chiang Mai reported the most accidents with 63, while Nakhon Ratchasima had the most deaths at 13,” he added.

 

Chainarong added that the department had deployed officials at police checkpoints nationwide to provide roadside assistance as well as safety guidance, especially at mountainous tourist attractions which are mostly covered with fog that could limit visibility and could cause accidents.

 

“Officials have also been instructing travellers to follow Covid-19 preventive measures and maintain social distancing to prevent the outbreak from spreading inter-provincially,” he added.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30400570?utm_source=category&utm_medium=internal_referral

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2021-01-01
 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Thaiophil said:

Roads 186, Covid 2.  But still little action on roads. Enforcing motorbike helmet wearing alone would immediately cut the number of fatalities a lot.

 

I guess the attitude to RTA deaths is that it must be the victims’ fault. 

No it wouldn't.

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2 hours ago, stereolab said:

Once again, the village has set up a tent complex for volunteers to sit in and watch Facebook. As ever, cars are simply driving through the cones sited on the road, no sign of a policeman with speed camera or breathalyser.

 

I'm old enough to remember when civic organizations all over the USA would set up tents, tables, chairs and coffee pots along the highways on all the major holidays.  It was coordinated on a massive scale, with many organizations taking part.  The idea wasn't to catch scofflaws.  It was to offer people a chance to stop for a few minutes, stretch their legs, pee, and have a hot coffee before they continued on their journey. 

 

Still goes on in a lot of places- though not as common as before- saving lives every holiday.  One life saved by preventing "micro-sleep" makes it worthwhile.

 

Edited by impulse
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3 hours ago, overherebc said:

Someone explain to me the thinking behind comparing Covid deaths and road accident deaths.

The deaths are the result of two entirely different reasons.

 

Yes we all know road fatalities outnumber covid-19 deaths but 60 plus deaths on the 

road in Thailand does not affect me at all, since I moved away years ago. But just

one infected Thai traveling to my country and infects me that is something different.

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9 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Thailand tends to see a huge spike in road accidents during long festival holidays because of the large number of people travelling from their places of work or business to their hometowns or to visit relatives.

 

In reality Thailand has usually seen a DROP in crashes and injuries during the holiday periods.

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I got pulled over at one of those checkpoints yesterday, when the police officer saw I was farang he said he wouldn’t alcohol test me as he cannot speak to me in English. Was asked to put on a face mask though.

 

I could have been paralytic drunk and still made it through 

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This '7 deadly days' thing is almost portrayed as an important annual event.

This year they seem to be celebrating more fatalities than last year......and as for some trying to compare it to Covid...that's just plain dopey!

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16 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Thailand tends to see a huge spike in road accidents during long festival holidays because of the large number of people travelling from their places of work or business to their hometowns or to visit relatives

 

with no driving skills or no intention to follow any rule but their own

 

186 DEATH in 3 days vs 61 in 10 months of covid...

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Read an article last week in 'The Norther Echo" a north east of England news paper where it stated that it had been a terrible year in the north east with 30 deaths on the roads for the whole of the north east.

Makes you wonder what a terrible year for road deaths in Thailand would be?

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1 hour ago, bwpage3 said:

Thailand isn't the US is it?

 

The majority killed in Thailand would not have been saved by a helme

Most helmets available in Thailand are very low quality,  indeed look like a helmet, however would not protect against a tennis ball impact.

 

 

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The previous lockdown was effective.

As previously stated had the Government employees done their jobs correctly & not bowed to corruption we would still be one of the countries that had a good record, Covid, I mean not traffic deaths which I have made constructive suggestions many times but deaf ears cannot hear

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