DMHT provides anti-drunk-driving course for police
Provincial Police Region 3 is preparing to manage the traffic expected to travel to the Northeast during Songkran, and aims to reduce the number of accidents in areas under its responsibility by at least 5 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Diageo Moet Hennessy (Thailand) Ltd (DMHT) is promoting a “Don’t drive drunk” campaign, in which the company has provided road-safety warning signs to be placed on provincial highways and smaller roads leading to the East and Northeast. The company is also providing an educational workshop for traffic police from Provincial Police Region 3 about understanding alcohol content and its effects on the body, and will hand out road-safety kits to drivers.
According to Pol Maj-Gen Termpong Sithtiprasert, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 3, the Road Safety Centre reported 3,215 accidents with 3,476 injuries and 271 deaths nationwide during the seven dangerous days of Songkran last year. While actions by a range of organisations successfully reduced the accident rate, the overall accident frequency in 2011 was still high and drunk driving was a major cause of accidents.
“As some accidents occur on smaller roads and those that connect villages in the Northeast, the Provincial Police Region 3 has developed a plan to manage traffic on both main and smaller roads, with a special focus on the beginning and end of the Songkran period, when there is a lot of traffic.
“Alcohol testing will take place at service points, stop points, intensive checkpoints and intercept points along main and smaller roads, while mobile units will be able to quickly reach accident sites and help those that are injured.
The units will also be equipped with essential vehicle repair tools to serve people who travel around the clock.”
Thanakorn Kuptajit, corporate relations director, said DMHT would “support the Traffic Police and Provincial Police Region 3 by providing road-safety warning signs at Bang Na-Trat Road, the gateway to the Eastern region, as well as along the provincial highways and smaller roads leading to the Northeast, one of the most crowded areas during Songkran and the gateway to a number of provinces”.
DMHT also provided an educational workshop for traffic police from the Provincial Police Region 3.
The “Understanding Responsible Drinking” training focused on understanding alcohol content and its effects on the body, and was designed to equip the police with knowledge to integrate into their work. This was the first time such a workshop was organised for the police officers.
The company will also hand out road-safety kits – which include fresh bottled water, a waterproof bag and a DRINKiQ leaflet to drivers who travel upcountry during Songkran.
Thanakorn added that DMHT’s collaboration with the traffic police and Provincial Police Region 3 was ongoing, and aimed to educate and raise awareness of road safety among the general public, especially during the long holidays when people travel back to their home towns to celebrate festivals such as New Year and Songkran.
The company said that during annual activities, it sought to play a role in reducing the accident rate as much as possible, in line with the government’s policy of Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011-2020.
