Police traffic blitz set for January 16

PHUKET TOWN: January 16 will be D-day for traffic offenders in Phuket Town, Pol Lt Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, warned today. On that day, he told the Gazette, police will arrest anyone caught breaking traffic laws in Phuket Town, with special attention being paid to motorcyclists not wearing helmets. The crackdown will coincide with a traffic violation blitz in Bangkok on the same day. However, Col Teeraphol explained, Phuket officers will not be hiding behind trees like their counterparts in the capital, but will instead be setting up checkpoints around town with signs warning motorists of the checkpoint 100 meters ahead. He explained that, besides paying the appropriate fines, offenders will have to attend classes on observing traffic laws. “I don’t want [offenders] to think they can just pay the fine and go back to whatever they were doing. “I want to make them so fed up with seeing police checking everywhere, knowing that if they’re caught, they’ll have to attend the classes,” he said. “I’ll try to make the classes so boring and such a waste of their time that they won’t want to break the law again.” The crackdown follows remarks by Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi, expressing concern about the rising death toll on Phuket’s roads, and the resources wasted – such as the cost of medical treatment. The latest road accident statistics show that 1,032 people were injured in motorcycle accidents in Phuket between October 20 and November 20 last year, bringing the injury toll for 2001 to 10,513. In the whole of the previous year the injury toll was 10,359. However, while the injury statistics show an increase, only three people died in motorcycle accidents during the same period, bringing the total to 119 motorcycle deaths recorded for the year to date, down from 141 in the same period in 2000.