44 fatalities reported on Friday but four-day total down from last year
Forty-four people were killed and another 368 injured in road accidents across the country on Friday, the fourth of the “seven dangerous days”, raising the Songkran death toll to 158.
The number of deaths in the first four days of the holiday is down by 14 from 172 in the same four-day period last year.
According to data from the road safety centre at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, 1,433 people were injured in 1,422 road accidents from April 11-14. That compared with 1,188 injuries in 1,207 accidents in the same period last year, when fewer trips were made as some Covid-19 restrictions were still in place.
Speeding was the major cause of accidents, at 35.6%, followed by drunk driving at 28.5%, Chotnarin Kerdsom, deputy permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, said on Saturday. Motorcycles were involved in 83.1% of all accidents.
On Friday alone, Nan saw the highest number of accidents at 16, and the highest number of injuries at 16. Bangkok, Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok reported three deaths each.
Officials manning 1,862 road checkpoints stopped 351,228 vehicles for checks. A total of 52,422 motorists faced action for violating traffic rules. A total of 15,467 offenders had no driving licences and 15,144 failed to wear crash helmets.
Chiang Mai, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Nan have so far reported the highest cumulative number of road accidents at 45 each. Nakhon Si Thammarat also had the highest number of injuries at 48. Bangkok had the highest number of deaths at 12, said Mr Chotnarin.
(Note: Deaths in graphic total 156 but figure does not include two people who died later of their injuries)