Thailand’s number of road fatalities is a national disgrace

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Editor;

Re: 3 injured in Bali Hai bridge accident (PM Friday, 04 January 2013) – Unfortunately, this is a commonplace, very regular occurrence in Thailand. Traffic rules are rarely if ever enforced. Education & community participation in making roads safer is non-existent. All this, even whilst the death toll climbs to one of the highest in ASEAN. In the one week over Christmas & New Year 365 deaths on Thai roads were reported with over 3,500 injuries. Nobody seems to care. Fasten your seatbelts and expect more of this.

Meanwhile, Re: Chonburi road fatalities jump 50% during New Year’s holiday (PM Friday, 11 January 2013) – The one-week road safety campaign could never have succeeded given “Road Safety” requires ongoing education and community engagement for 365 days a year – not a one week blitz.

Sadly Thailand does not have people in gov’t & the police willing to commit to year-round activities promoting Road Safety or cracking down on reckless driving. The rising toll of road fatalities will continue to rise even as Thailand leads the ASEAN Group in number of road fatalities. 365 deaths in one week of Christmas/New Year is a national disgrace.

Marc Hawkes