Songkran death toll rises 7% from last year’s figure

The accumulated road death toll during the “seven dangerous days” of Songkran jumped to 418 this year, up about 7% on last year.

From April 11-17 there were a total of 3,724 road accidents across the country, claiming 418 lives and i njuring 3,897 people, the Road Safety Centre announced yesterday.

On April 17 alone, the last of the seven days, 26 people were killed and 336 injured in 307 road crashes nationwide, Deputy Interior Minister Sutee Markboon told a news briefing, citing a report from the Road Safety Centre.

During last year’s Songkran holidays, 389 people died on the roads and 3,807 were injured in 3,689 traffic accidents over the seven days.

Drink-driving was given as the major cause of the fatal crashes this year, at 40.28%, followed by speeding at 26.5%, Mr Sutee said.

Motorcycles were involved in by far the greatest number of crashes (79.85%), followed by pickup trucks (7.17%).

The most accident-prone hours for accidents were between 4pm and 8pm.

A total of 146,589 traffic offenders were arrested at 2,029 checkpoints across the country — of them, 39,572 failed to wear crash helmets and 37,779 were not carrying driving licences, the deputy interior minister said.

While four provinces — Ranong, Samut Songkhram, Nong Khai and Nong Bua Lamphu — reported no deaths from road accidents, Nakhon Ratchasima recorded the highest death toll from April 11 to 17 with 20 fatalities, while Chiang Mai had the highest number of injuries at 142.