Songkran "road Carnage"

[neenthewiser]

From the Phuket Gazette:

"Over the nine days, a blitz on road safety saw police officers stop 229,631 vehicles at 50 checkpoints on the island.

Some 3,837 people were charged with breaking traffic regulations. Of these, 2,181 were charged with driving without a license, 1,176 with not wearing helmets, 258 with not wearing seatbelts, 155 with drunk driving, 65 with driving illegally modified vehicles, and two people with speeding."

So if we consider speeding, drunk driving and illegally modified vehicles as realistically dangerous to other road users, then that's 222 out of 229,631 stopped.

That's 0.009% of the drivers the Phuket police stopped were actually dangerous.

Well I feel much safer now!

[Phil Conners]

I wonder how many were caught without a valid insurance. I wonder if it was checked at all. It seems to me every time a foreignter is involved in an accident with a Thai the Thai never has an insurance.

[thaimee]

i must agree. thai people look out for themselves. so that is sensible as they are their own people. in pattaya the message hasn't sunk in, so don't expect any sympathy from me when you see heads start to roll at your feet.

Thaimee.