Probationary sentences for 3,100 drunk-driving offenders over New Year
The courts handed down probationary sentences in more than 3,000 cases of drunk-driving during five days of the New Year holiday period.
There were 3,517 cases in total of traffic law violations for which the courts ordered probation as punishment from December 28 to January 1, with 3,105 cases or 88 per cent of them involving cases of drinking and driving, Probation Department director-general Prasan Mahaleetrakul said on Tuesday.
Forty-four of the remaining cases concerned reckless driving, while the other 268 were for a wide range of other traffic offences. Only one of them was for speeding.
Prasan also said that the top five provinces for drunk-driving offences over the holiday period were Surin, with 319 cases, Bangkok (288), Sakhon Nakhon (201), Nonthaburi (182) and Ubon Ratchathani (163).
“Driving while drunk is a serious offence internationally, and many countries have started to share information about offenders and ban them from entering their countries. Moreover, some countries have also increased penalties for this offence, because drinking and driving is regarded as a threat to society,” he added.