25 deaths in 234 road accidents recorded on 1st of Songkran’s ‘7 dangerous days’
Thursday, the first of Songkran’s notorious “seven dangerous days”, saw 234 road accidents, killing 25 and injuring 248 others.
Chotenarin Kerdsom, deputy permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, met the press at the Road Safety Centre on Friday to announce data on road accidents and casualties on the first of the seven dangerous days.
Thousands of Thais travel upcountry during the Songkran and New Year break every year, and heavy traffic, speeding and inebriation often result in a spike in road accidents during this period.
This year, Songkran holidays span from April 12 to 16, prompting the Road Safety Centre to collect and report accident statistics from April 11 to 17.
Though the number of accidents on Thursday looks impressive, it is still 19.03% lower than the number recorded during the same period over the past three years, said Chaiwat Junthirapong, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, who oversees the centre.
The number of injuries and deaths also dropped 14.28% and 21.88%, respectively, he said.
Songkhla province recorded the most accidents at 11 cases, followed by 10 each in Krabi and Ayutthaya and nine in Trang.
Songkhla also topped the chart in injuries, with 13 persons being hurt, followed by 12 in Narathiwat and 11 in Krabi.
Bangkok, meanwhile, reported the highest number of deaths at three, followed by two each in Phitsanulok, Roi Et and Ubon Ratchathani.
Of the accidents reported on Thursday, 86.07% involved motorcycles, 5.74% pick-up trucks and 3.69% cars.
The centre said the top three causes for the road accidents were speeding (103 cases), cutting lanes (49) and drunk driving (39).
The officials found that the top three most risky behaviours of drivers were not using safety equipment (67.77%), speeding (15.75%) and consuming alcohol (10.99%).
