Surachai Saengutithum, chief
of the Chonburi Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, announces the
results of this year’s holiday traffic campaign.
Phasakorn Channgam
Chonburi officials failed in their attempt to cut the number of New
Year’s holiday road accidents by 5 percent, with crashes and fatalities
instead jumping by double-digit percentages.
The province’s much-ballyhooed road-safety campaign, which featured the
establishment 28 command centers, resulted in a 50 percent increase in
traffic deaths and 16 percent rise in overall accidents. Province-wide six
people died and 30 were injured in 36 reported accidents.
Surachai Saengutithum, chief of the Chonburi Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation Department, announced the results of the holiday
traffic campaign Jan. 3, acknowledging that officials had begun the week
with hopes of seeing accidents drop 5 percent from 2012.
The department had set up 28 command posts in Chonburi’s 11 districts, with
police working to educate drivers on the perils of drunk driving and not
wearing motorcycle helmets.
Officials in Chonburi stopped 68,621 vehicles, of which 32,196 were
motorcycles. Of the total, 20,356 had violated at least one traffic law,
with the majority of motorcyclists not wearing helmets and cars breaking the
speed limit.
Surachai attributed the accidents, deaths and injuries to drunk driving and
non-use of motorcycle helmets. All six fatalities and 21 of the injuries
involved male drivers.
Of Chonburi’s 11 districts, Pattaya’s Banglamung District ranked second
worst, with 11 accidents, one death and 10 injuries. Muang Chonburi, for the
second consecutive year, topped the dangerous list with 15 accidents, a
single death and 14 injuries.
Four districts - Ban Bung, Koh Sichang, Sriracha and Phanthong - reported no
accidents, deaths or injuries.
Nationwide, accidents increased 2.6 percent to 3,176 with reported road
fatalities jumping 8.6 percent to 365. Injuries fell 1.4 percent, however,
to 3,329.
Deputy Interior Minister Chat Kuldilok said Trat remained the only province
with no record of any accidents during the “Seven Dangerous Days”, while
there were no deaths from road accidents in six provinces including Trat,
Nakhon Nayok, Phangnga, Ranong, Nong Khai and Uttaradit.
On New Year’s Day alone, 34 persons reportedly died in road accidents, while
293 persons were injured. The highest daily death toll was recorded at eight
in the central province of Angthong.
The highest cumulative death toll was recorded at 18 deaths in Nakhon
Pathom, while the highest accumulated injured was at 147 cases in Chiang
Mai.
