336 killed in road accidents during New Year

[buksida]

Road accidents in the past five of seven most dangerous days during the New Year holiday have killed 336 people and injured 3,984 throughout the country.

According to Interior Ministry, drunk driving causes 42% of the incidents. Speeding, reckless driving and motorcycle riders not wearing helmets are blamed for the rest.

Deaths occurred the most on Dec 30, when 85 people were killed.

However, fatalities during Dec 23 to Jan 1 were down about 4% from last year.

The number of injuries rose slightly from the same period of last year, the ministry said.

Source: Bangkok Post

Thought: Having spent a lot of the past week on the road I did actually notice a lot less carnage than previous years. The highway police setup little roadside pit stops at frequent intervals for drivers to rest and have a coffee. This was quite a good idea but the fact that they often blocked off half the highway usually round blind bends with no prior warning signs seemed to cause more traffic chaos than they prevented.

[Roel]

Ah, I already wondered where these police check points were for. Saw one between Hua Hin and Cha-am. It included a couple of uniformed nurses! I assumed they were checking for drunk driving but now I know it is a police service point. Suppose they did not serve any Saeng Som with the coffee??

[dtaai-maai]

There's been one south of HH on the Pranburi road for the last week or so, but I haven't seen any police there. I think the idea is that if you're drunk you have to stop and report yourself.