Calls for campaign to teach drivers to stop at red lights (yes, really)

The secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand has called for a campaign to educate Thai drivers about the need to stop at red lights and pedestrian crossings. In a post on his Facebook page, Ittaporn Kanacharoen says drivers need to be taught about the rights of pedestrians and the need to give way at zebra crossings and red traffic lights. He says that unless drivers know to stop, it’s pointless installing traffic lights at pedestrian crossings, as is currently happening across Bangkok.

Plans are afoot to make the city’s zebra crossings safer after a Bangkok ophthalmologist was fatally struck by an off-duty police officer on a speeding motorbike as she used a pedestrian crossing. The death of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul provoked a furious backlash on social media and lights are now being installed at the crossing on Phaya Thai Road.

According to a Thai PBS World report, the work is expected to be completed in a week, after which the lights will be tested before going into operation. An AI camera will also be fitted at a later stage to catch drivers who fail to stop at the crossing.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World