Seeking answers

Re: “317 died in 2,440 road accidents in New Year’s week” (BP, Jan 5).

Are the resources of the Post really so limited that it cannot provide answers to the obvious questions raised by reporting government press releases at face value?

How long is the probation period for being caught drink driving?

Do drunk drivers have their vehicles impounded on detection, are they made to leave them on the roadside, or are they allowed to drive on?

How many probation offices are there around Thailand, and how “regularly” do offenders have to report to authorities, and how do they get there if their licence has been suspended?

How do police assess a driver’s likelihood of becoming addicted or repeating the offence from just one traffic stop or breath test at an accident?

Given that the probation department announced an identical regime after the last holiday period, why has the Post not sought figures for how many drivers actually underwent rehabilitation after previous long holidays?

It’s difficult not to conclude that your editors have realised that trying to tease out such answers would be as much an exercise in creative statistics as the full “7- deadly-days” figures for road deaths which will hit us shortly, with the usual improbable 2 decimal point percentages of who, why, where and when.

Just as it is frustrating that we shall never know how many of the injured now in hospital will add to the death toll in the meantime, it is depressing that the country will see the same cycle of events repeated in four months at Songkran. RAY BAN