Laser speed trap on airport road

PHUKET: Motorists traveling north towards the airport are advised to take their feet off the gas until the end of this week at least, or risk paying a fine for speeding. Every day until Saturday, police officers will be been perched atop the footbridge near the Muang Thalang School, armed with a pair of laser speed guns, while, 300 meters further on, more officers wait to hand out tickets to speeding motorists. Fines, which depend on how fast the motorist is going, range from 200 to 1,000 baht. The laser guns, which cost 200,000 baht apiece, are on loan from consultancy Swe-Road Co of Sweden, which has been conducting a long-term road safety project with police in Phuket and in Nakhon Pathom. Police told the Gazette that they will be operating the speed trap on the airport road for two-hour periods, twice a day – though they declined to reveal which two-hour periods on any particular day. Assisting the police is Tommy Schutz, a Deputy Commander in the Swedish police force who is currently on secondment to Swe-Road. He explained, “Many people in Thailand die in traffic accidents because they are not aware of the dangers involved in driving fast. “I think that when we use the laser guns to catch people, they will learn to drive more carefully because they won’t want to pay for any more speeding tickets.” Although the official speed limit on the airport road is 90 kmh, the police are stopping only those motorists clocked at speeds of 110 kmh or higher. So far, the fastest offender was doing 158 kmh, Mr Schutz said. Offenders are given a speeding ticket and are obliged to surrender their license to the police. The license is returned once the fine has been paid at the nearest police station, in this case the one in Thalang. Fines must be paid within seven days. In addition to speeding, the police and Swe-Road are concentrating on four other traffic problems: riding motorcycles without helmets, driving without fastening seatbelts, driving while under the influence of alcohol, and running red lights.