A total of 317 people were killed and 2,437 others injured in 2,440 road accidents across Thailand between December 29th and January 4th, according to statistics provided by the Department of Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and related agencies.
On the last day of the New Year holidays on Wednesday, 25 people died and 253 others were injured in 241 road accidents.
34.85% of the accidents were caused by speeding and 80.24% involved motorcycles. 24.48% were the result of cutting in front of another vehicle at speed.
85.06% of the accidents occurred on straight roads, 48.96% occurred on local and rural roads. Most of the accidents took place between 4pm and 5pm.
On that day, Songkhla Province recorded most accidents, with 13, while Kanchanaburi Province reported the highest number of people injured, with 15. The highest death tolls, two each, were reported in Chiang Rail Roi-et, Songkhla, Surat Thani and Udon Thani.
The death toll and injuries from road accidents this year were the fewest in the last three years.
Meanwhile, Probation Department Director-General Veerakit Hanparipan said today (Thursday) that, during the 7-day period, the court put traffic offenders on probation in 1,646 cases, including 1,575 cases of drunk driving, six cases of reckless driving and 65 cases of drinking while driving.
A total of 8,923 cases were taken to court. These include 8,567 cases of drunk driving, 21 cases of reckless driving and 335 cases of drinking while driving.
The north-eastern province of Roi-et recorded the highest level of drunk driving, with 469 cases, followed by Samut Prakan, with 388, and Nonthaburi, with 358.
There were 7,868 drunk driving cases last year, compared to this year’s 8,567, representing an increase of 699 (8.88%).
Veerakit said that every drunk driver placed on probation will have to undergo assessment of their drinking habit and, if they are found to be at high risk of alcohol addiction, they would be sent for rehabilitation at centres operated by the Ministry of Public Health.
Repeat drunk driving offenders will be sent for “boot camp” rehabilitation for three consecutive days and will be required to comply with behavioural rules, such as reporting to probation officers and doing community services, he added.
