Road carnage continues

PHUKET: Official figures for the year to November 20 show that 151 people on motorcycles, 17 more in cars and one unlucky pedestrian have died in accidents on Phuket roads.

Despite the high total of 169 deaths so far, the figures are an improvement on those for the same period in 2003, when 176 people died in accidents, 165 of them while riding motorbikes.

The most recent additions to the statistics, according to Wachira, Thalang and Patong government hospitals, were the 17 people who died in accidents on Phuket roads between October 20 and November 20. Of the 17 dead, 16 were on motorcycles and one was in a car.

During the month-long period, 1,165 people were injured in accidents, with 1,078 people injured on motorbikes, 49 in cars and 38 on foot, said Ampaipan Pawawattananusorn of the Phuket Provincial Health Office.

Those injured in accidents on Phuket roads during the period brought the total number of people injured for the year to November 20 to 11,351, with 10,188 injured on motorbikes.