The official road accident figures for the “seven dangerous days” of Songkran 2011 were announced yesterday by the Road Safety Centre (RSC), who reported that 271 people were killed on Thailand’s roads during the main holiday days, a drop of 24.9 per cent over the same period in 2010.
According to RSC director, Dr Thanapong Jinwong, there were 3,215 road accidents over the seven days, a drop of 8.56 per cent over the 3,516 road accidents recorded for Songkran 2010. The number of people seriously injured fell from 3,802 in 2010 “to just 3,476” in 2011, a drop of 8.57 per cent.
Dr Thanapong said drunk driving accounted for 38.7 per cent of Songkran 2011 road accidents, with excessive speed blamed for 20.5 per cent, and 15.6 per cent due to reckless driving by motorcyclists.
According to Dr Thanapong up to 4,910,038 vehicles were stopped for road-side checks during the Songkran 2011 holiday days, an increase of 497,159 over Songkran 2010, with 646,837 drivers issued traffic infringement notices, while 202,956 motorbike riders were detected not wearing crash helmets.
Photos John Le Fevre
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He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.
He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.
In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.
Most recently he was the Thailand editor/ managing editor of AEC News Today . Prior to that he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.
In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.
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I think that no matter where you live or ride a helmet is one of the most important things you need to have with you at all times. Riding without a helmet is never a good idea, especially when accident rates are, although on their way down, are so high. Thanks for the post.