Day 2 of 7 Dangerous Days sees 44 deaths, 426 road injuries

On Day 2 of the Seven Dangerous Days road safety campaign, there have been a total of 85 deaths in 784 accidents. The first day saw 41 deaths and 360 injuries, and Thursday recorded 44 deaths and 426 injuries. While the numbers are higher than other periods throughout the year, accidents and injuries are down 21.5% over the same dates last year, and deaths are down 33.6%, according to the Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

46 of Thailand’s 77 provinces have not had any road accident deaths so far in the 7 day period the government tracks due to the high number of holiday travellers and increased number of injuries and death each year. In the first 2 days, Nakhon Ratchasima is the province with the most deaths, with 7 fatalities reported on the road. Loei had the most injuries with 32 people hurt. Chiang Mai had 31 accidents, the most in any province.

As usual, excessive speeding was responsible for a third of all accidents, the highest percentage at 33.7% in total, and drunk driving was the second most common cause with a quarter of all accidents, 26.3% attributed to alcohol. Poor visibility was the third most common cause, with 17.8% of crashes due to not being able to see roads or other vehicles clearly. 83.1% of all accidents involved motorbikes over the last 2 days.

On Thursday, Day 2, Chiang Mai had the most accidents and the most injuries of any province with 21 accidents and 19 people hurt. 3 road deaths each were reported in Roi Et, Nonthaburi and Bangkok, more than any other province.

1,911 checkpoints were operating Thursday, 36 more than Wednesday, but 46,796 people were found violating Thai traffic laws, far less than the nearly 63,000 on Day 1. On Day 2, 14,484 were cited for not wearing a motorbike helmet – down from 18,000 on the first day, and 11,866 were fined for operating a vehicle without a driving license.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post