New Year Holidays Off To Deadly Start

New Year off to deadly start

Road accidents over the New Year holidays have claimed 41 lives and 540 people have been injured, the Road Safety Centre reported yesterday.

Thursday was the first day of a week-long holiday season. The government has declared December 28 to January 3 a "traffic alert" period.

Road fatalities were up compared to the same period last year, the safety centre said, adding there were 497 accidents on Thursday.

Deputy Interior Minister Banyat Jansena reported that more than a third of those involved drunk driving and another 21.5 per cent speeding.

Dangerous driving resulted in 11.9 per cent of accidents, he added.

Most accidents - 84.2 per cent - involved motorcycles. Pickup vehicles and passenger cars were involved in 3.3 per cent of accidents.

Banyat said more than half of all accidents occurred on straight stretches of secondary roads and the peak time for accidents was between 4pm and 8pm.

Ayutthaya topped the provincial death toll with four followed by Nakhon Si Thammarat and Sakon Nakhon with three each. Songkhla reported the most accidents with 19 and also saw the most related injuries with 24. Chon Buri and Lampang each reported 20 injuries.

Prachin Buri, Mae Hong Son and Yasothon all reported no accidents.

Traffic police stopped more than 1,309,000 vehicles at checkpoints and 30,023 drivers were given citations. Motorcyclists without safety helmets made up 48.7 per cent of violations followed by drunk driving at 34.9 per cent and speeding at 12.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla has encouraged people to carry their universal health scheme member cards with them during the holiday period. The cards entitle people to emergency medical treatment at any hospital, which would later be reimbursed for fees.

The holiday season also put pressure on the transport system. People heading to hometowns in the North and Northeast yesterday crowded the Mor Chit bus terminal with most of the travellers arriving before dawn.

Officials warned travellers to beware of ticket scams and overcharging. State Railway of Thailand acting governor Thawin Samna-khon estimated there were 100,000 train passengers yesterday.

Source: The Nation - 30 December 2006