Pattaya Daily News

Published : April 14, 2011 :: 10:04:03 [ 5,067 views ]

BANGKOK, April 13, 2011 - Fifty-nine persons died and 976 were injured in road accidents across Thailand during the first two of this year's Songkran festival’s “seven dangerous days,” a senior transport ministry official said Wednesday.

Chamroon Tangpaisalkij, deputy permanent secretary of the transport ministry, said statistics compiled by the Road Safety Centre of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation showed 893 road accidents during the first two days, ending Tuesday at midnight, during the seven-day campaign to reduce road accidents nationwide.

Compared to the corresponding period of last year’s traditional New Year, the number of road accidents was 37 per cent less, while the number of fatalities was down 48 per cent and those injured declined 36.5 per cent, Mr Chamroon said.

Chiang Mai, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chon Buri recorded the most deaths at four each during the first two days this year while the northernmost province of Chiang Rai recorded most injuries at 54, he said.

 

Major causes for road accidents were attributed to drunken driving with 38 per cent followed by speeding at 21 per cent, he said.

As most revelers are expected to have reached their destinations, police manning 2,514 major checkpoints nationwide have been ordered to strictly punish those drinking-and-driving and motorcyclists and their  passengers travelling without wearing safety helmets, Mr Chamroon said.

Meanwhile, Viboon Sanguanpong, director-general of the department, said provincial authorities again asked to warn people not to use high pressure hoses to spray water at vehicles, especially motorcycles, as it might easily cause accidents.

Credit by: MCOT online news

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