Road death toll below last year after third ‘dangerous’ day

The figures were lower than the same period last year, when there were 190 deaths and 1,782 injuries in 1,737 road accidents.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) reported 1,304 vehicles were impounded as a result of drunk driving since Christmas.

Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said almost 100 per cent of head injuries in road accidents during the three-day period was the result of people not wearing helmets. 

Office of Police Strategy deputy commander Maj-General Krisada Surachetpong announced that only Samut Prakan province had zero reported road accidents in the three-day period, while 16 provinces had no road deaths. 

Chiang Mai had the highest number of road accidents at 62 and the most injuries at 63, while Chon Buri province had the most deaths (eight).

On Thursday there were 622 road accidents that killed 74 people and injured 675.

More than 65,000 officials manned 2,104 checkpoints nationwide and they arrested 108,400 motorists for laws they had broken. Most did not have a driver’s licence (31,039 cases) or failed to wear a helmet (29,706 cases).

Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, deputy spokeswoman of the NCPO, said from December 25 until Thursday soldiers at checkpoints impounded 1,212 motorcycles and 92 cars for drunk driving, while 9,569 motorcyclists and 4,323 drivers faced legal action.

Officials maintaining peace and order in the provinces implemented extra measures in a bid to boost road safety during the holiday period. 

In Nong Khai province’s Muang district, soldiers trucked drunks home from three locations on New Year’s Eve until 6am yesterday. 

At a traffic checkpoint in Uttaradit’s Muang district, an Army doctor from Fort Pichaidaphak Hospital provided free acupuncture service for drivers travelling long distances – in a bid to prevent them from falling asleep behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, deputy police chief General Pongsapat Pongcharoen announced that owners of 4,960 homes joined the police’s “house-sitting” project over the New Year break – 796 more than last year. Bangkok had 1,866 houses in the project, with Chok Chai Police Station |having the most (104). 

Health Minister Piyasakol said nearly all the people sent to hospital for head injuries had failed to wear a helmet while on a motorcycle. He urged people to wear helmets, adhere to all traffic laws and refrain from drink driving. 

He cited a 2014 World Health Organisation report that found Thailand had 24,000 deaths from road accidents – 70 per cent of them motorcyclists. 

Piyasakol spoke while inspecting various hospitals’ preparedness to handle emergency cases during this period. He thanked all personnel and rescue volunteers for their sacrifice.

As people continued to celebrate the New Year yesterday, some cautionary cases emerged. 

In Nonthaburi, a retired civil servant alerted police after a bullet shot through the roof of her house 10 minutes after the countdown. Teen-agers were suspected to have hit the house while firing guns into the sky. 

Meanwhile, in Muang district in Buri Ram, a grocery with a bamboo and grass roof was engulfed in flames yesterday morning after reportedly being hit by sparks from fireworks.