Crackdown On Drunk Drivers

[george]

Get tough on drunks, govt is told

With 12,000 road deaths a year, groups want hard penalties

BANGKOK: -- The government and health and road-safety activists yesterday proposed tougher action against drunk drivers.

They recommended new laws making it an offence for drivers to refuse breath or blood-alcohol tests.

The Office of the Attorney General and road-safety and health groups said drivers suspected of being intoxicated and refusing tests and then charged with obstructing police should be subject to penalties as severe as those for driving under the influence.

It also should be obligatory for all parties involved in motor accidents to undergo breath or blood-alcohol tests.

The recommendations come in response to concern suspected drunk drivers refused to take tests while happily accepting maximum fines for obstructing police - which were Bt1,000 compared with a maximum penalty for driving drunk of Bt4,000 and a year in jail.

The legal maximum blood-alcohol limit in Thailand is 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres.

Attorney-General Pachara Yutithamdamrong told a seminar yesterday his office, the Don't Drive Drunk Foundation, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and others would seek an increase in penalties for motorists refusing to submit to analysis.

They should be the same as those for drunk driving.

For effective law enforcement, it should be made mandatory for all involved in motor accidents to submit to alcohol tests, he added.

Foundation secretary-general Taejing Siripanich said legal, road-safety and health campaigners would meet in November to finalise recommended amendments to the law. These could be in force within 18 months.

Caretaker Senator and foundation chairman Damrong Puttan hailed the proposed changes.

Making alcohol testing mandatory at road accidents would ensure drunk drivers were punished.

Each year more than 12,000 people die in alcohol-related road accidents costing the country more than Bt100 billion.

Most fatalities are of working age - between 15 and 35, according to director-general at the Attorney-General's technical affairs department Paisit Kanokvechayant.

Its Thon Buri criminal litigation director-general Sermsak Woradit urged law enforcers to get tough on drunk drivers, increase policing and checkpoints and supply them with alcohol-testing devices.

There should be legislation to protect victims of drunk drivers, he added.

President of a network supporting victims of drunk drivers, Pattarapan Krisana, welcomed the proposals and suggested fines should be increased significantly to cover compensation and care for victims.

--The Nation 2006-09-13

[Thaddeus]

With 12,000 road deaths a year, groups want hard penalties

Good start, but wouldn't a stricter driving test and real driving lessons be better for drivers before they die.

[joeyswags]

Finally a "crack down" that might do some good. Any Thai who has a car and is stupid enough to drive it drunk should be fined more than 1000 or 4000 baht first of all. First offence in the US is at about 10,000 usd. You can refuse a breath or urine test on the spot in America but a blood test is manditory. So if you think you are on the border of a dui..ask for the blood, it will take them an hour or two to set it up..more time for you to sober up

I really found it interesting that they say the new law can be in force in 18 months. I thought they could change these things without warning over night here...seems to be happening...

[Scott]

I never drive when I am drinking. Most of my Thai friends think I am crazy for taking a taxi home. I really try to encourage them to not drink and drive but to no avail. Several of them are very bad drivers to begin with.

[Nam Kao]

I need a few drinks before i would even consider getting on the road with these nuts

[astral]

What happened to the last crackdown on Drunk Drivers............

[Galong]

What happened to the last crackdown on Drunk Drivers............

The powers that be got drunk and forgot about it... doh!

[The Dan Sai Kid]

What happened to the last crackdown on Drunk Drivers............

The powers that be got drunk and forgot about it... doh!

I thought that the last crackdown was still on

[Spenthouse]

increase policing and checkpoints

is it still possible to get the weekly list of checkpoints for 50 baht?

[Old Man River]

Every year during Songkran, the Bangkok governor puts into place a program against drunk drivers to lower traffic deaths. Nothing ever happens.

A bit of personal experience: A few years ago during Songkran, my wife and I were stopped at a red light when a car slammed into the back of our car. Fortunately, we were fine as was the drunk driver and his gf. My wife flagged down a motorcycle cop who questioned the driver who was having difficulty standing. The police officer then went to my wife and said there is no problem here, he admits it was his fault and his insurance will cover the damage. My wife protested that he shouldn't be driving, but the police officer just waived her off, got on his motorcycle and drove away. So far, these are the get tough programs on drunk driving we have seen in Bangkok.

[kmart]

12,000 dead / per year must be among the highest per capita in the world?

Although, to my mind most of the other countries in SE Asia seem a lot more dangerous to drive. Any busy town in China for example is total chaos. There is a resemblance of a system here in Thailand at least.

[Tony Clifton]

At least 20 years behind... Their methods still will remain primitive until they stop relying on road blocks or standing on the corner to pull cars over. A drunk driver could weave for hundreds of kilometers and will always have the assurance that a patrol car will never follow him as they are close to non-existent.

Quadruple the punishment to any policeman who tried to cover for drunk drivers.

[Thaddeus]

I never drive when I am drinking. Most of my Thai friends think I am crazy for taking a taxi home. I really try to encourage them to not drink and drive but to no avail. Several of them are very bad drivers to begin with.

One of the ex-pats who lived close to me had a fatal accident two nights ago. Red road, driving way too quickly and drunk.

Tried to take a bend, lost control, the car flipped over and landed upside down in a ditch..... it's rainy season, he drowned.

The only saving grace was that he was on his way to pick up his wife and small child, rather than on the return journey.

[veteran]

election time around the corner.TIT:

[phibunmike]

You can refuse a breath or urine test on the spot in America but a blood test is manditory. So if you think you are on the border of a dui..ask for the blood, it will take them an hour or two to set it up..more time for you to sober up

That may be the case in US, but not everywhere. For example, in Singapore the question the insurance will ask you after an accident is not "were you breathylsed / blood-tested and found to be over the limit?" but "were you required to take a blood test" - in their view that already states that you had been drinking, and they might not pay up or renew your insurance.

So beware translating rules to other countries....