Twenty-five killed on first of the ‘7 Dangerous Days’

Twenty-five people were killed and 356 injured in 348 road accidents which occurred throughout the country on Saturday, the first day of the government’s campaign for Songkran road safety, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department directorgeneral Boontham Lertsukhikasem said yesterday.

Speeding was to blame for 31.6% of the accidents, followed by drink-driving (22.9%) and sudden lane-switching (20.4%). Some 82.9% of the accidents involved motorcycles, while 7.5% were pickups and 3.9% cars. Regarding the time of day of the accidents, 27.8% occurred during 4.01pm-8.00pm; 19.8% during 8.01am-12 pm; and 16.9% during 12.01pm-4.00pm.

Phatthalung province in the South recorded the highest number of accidents at 20, with 22 people injured. Bangkok, Chon Buri and Chiang Mai each registered two deaths from road accidents. Nationwide there are 1,913 main checkpoints manned by 60,201 officials. A total of 342,028 vehicles were stopped for a check and 58,347 drivers cited for various offences, including 14,852 for not wearing safety helmets and 16,125 for driving without a licence.

Meanwhile, the Department of Highways reported 516,358 vehicles entering Bangkok through 10 routes and motorways on Saturday, down 7.7% at the same time last year. However, traffic leaving the capital, 698,675 vehicles, was down 1.5% from the same time last year.

Outbound traffic on the temporarilyopened section, from Bang Pa-in district of Ayutthaya to Nakhon Ratchasima, of the M6 motorway was heavy with 27,382 vehicles using it on Saturday.

The combined traffic volume on the section on Saturday and yesterday stood at 44,614 vehicles. Also on Saturday, outbound traffic on Mittraphap Road, the main route to the Northeast, was 69,855 vehicles. The traffic volume rose to 118,625 vehicles or 163,293 vehicles when combined with the vehicles that used the M6 motorway as of yesterday.