As I type this, more than 400 people have lost their lives in the first six days of the Songkran “Festival”. This has gone up from the 2015 figures, so all the exhortations to drive carefully were a complete waste of time. A fact that anyone with 50 percent of functioning brain cells could have predicted.
So what should be done? Looking at the statistics, motorcycle riders make up 80 percent of the deaths. That looks a good place to begin a road safety drive, does it not? Other interesting stats involve alcohol (40 percent) and the main times for accidents are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Imagine if the police were to set up road blocks from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (that’s not too onerous) and breathalyze all motorcycle riders as well as checking for helmet use and actually having a license.
Could that make a difference? Surely by tackling the group from which the most killed come from must show dividends. Something must be done, and I know that the road toll makes Thailand the second worst in the world, but start somewhere instead of apathetically accepting the status quo.
It is time that the phrase TIT (This Is Thailand) can be no longer accepted. The legislation is there to face the problems, but the BIB do not apply it.
