Road safety has to be a year-round effort

We have the second-worst roads in the world in terms of fatalities, and each year the main cause (drunk driving accounts for 37 per cent of the accidents) and the primary vehicle (motorcycles are involved in 82 per cent) remain the same.

In the short term we can have flying squads giving drivers breathalyser tests and fining them on the spot the maximum amount (receipts provided) if they’re tipsy. 

If they protest that they’re sober, they should be taken to the nearest station for further testing. The flying squads should also check motorcyclists for use of helmets and speeding. Those without helmets should be fined the maximum and given a coupon toward head protection that’s approved by the Thailand Safety Institute. The money collected in fines could be shared among the arresting cops to provide incentive and finance safety-related equipment like breath analysers.

In the longer term, making roads safer should be a key performance indicator for all officers in the traffic division, and evaluation and promotions should be based primarily on that. We need to do what works elsewhere, such as closing bars that serve underage patrons, mandatory jail time for driving under the influence, specialised traffic courts for quick and fair trials.

Burin Kantabutra