Spike in road deaths during holiday period with 478 killed
The so-called seven dangerous days of the New Year holiday period ended Wednesday with 478 people killed on the country’s roads and 4,128 injured in 3,919 accidents.
Last year there were 380 deaths and 3,505 injuries from 3,379 accidents during the New Year period.
The main cause of accidents this year was drunk driving at 36.59 per cent of all accidents followed by speeding at 31.31 per cent, while motorcycles were involved in most accidents at 81.82 per cent, Deputy Interior Minister Suthee Makboon announced at the Road Safety Directing Centre Thursday.
Most accidents took place on highways (36.92 per cent) and on village roads (36.49 per cent), and occurred between 4pm and 8pm (29.24 per cent). More than half of the victims (52.22 per cent) were of working age (20-49).
Throughout the holiday period, officials at 2,042 checkpoints arrested 727,438 law-breaking motorists, mostly for failing to present a driver’s licence (205,894) and for failing to wear a crash helmet (197,504).