Speeding concerned for almost 40 % of accidents
PUBLISHED: 2 Jan 2025 at 15: 49
On Wednesday, 346 people were killed and 346 were hurt in road fatalities across Thailand, bringing the total in the so-called “ten harmful days of the New Year vacations to 272.
The Road Safety Directing Center of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported on Thursday that 339 street accidents had been recorded on January 1.
Officials this year expanded the New Year’s Road Safety Campaign from seven to ten times as they increased public awareness and promoted more responsible driving. The battle period runs from December 27 to January 5.
In the first six days, speeding has been the major cause of accidents, at 38.9 % of the total, followed by drunk driving at 31.6 % and poor visibility at 16.8 %.
As in previous years, most of the vehicles involved in accidents were scooters, at 86.4 %.
From Dec 27 to Jan 1, there were 1, 739 road fatalities that claimed 272 life and injured 1, 694 persons nationwide.
Surat Thani province has recorded the highest number of accidents ( 63 ), injuries ( 73 ) and deaths ( 12 ) in that period. Five people died in the latter’s accident on Wednesday evening when the tour bus a  went into a ditch in the Chaiya area.
A year ago, a total of 284 people were killed and 2, 307 injured in 2, 288 traffic fatalities during the” seven dangerous time” of the New Year vacation.
Thai bridges have long been ranked among the world’s most dangerous. According to the most current data collected by the World Health Organization to 2021, Thailand ranked 16th out of 175 countries in highway fatalities per 100, 000 people, at 25.4. That same year, the WHO recorded 18, 218 road traffic fatalities in the country, an average of 50 per time.