A total of 301 road accidents occurred nationwide on Tuesday, the second of the so-called “seven dangerous days” around the Songkran Festival, causing 47 deaths and 292 injuries, according to government data that probably understates the true death toll.
Speeding and drink-driving were still the main causes of the accidents, Interior Ministry deputy permanent secretary Nirat Pongsithithavorn said on Wednesday.
Mr Nirat, as chair of the centre for the prevention and reduction of road accidents during the 2022 Songkran Festival, said the figures were compiled from daily situation reports by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and concerned agencies.
On Tuesday, the second of the “seven dangerous days” (April 11-17), there were 301 road accidents with 47 killed and 292 injuries.
However, the daily death tolls do not include those who succumb to their injuries on subsequent days. According to the Thailand Development Research Institute and the World Health Organization, an average of 56 people die from road accidents in the kingdom every day of the year.
Most of the accidents involved motorcycles (79.94%) and pick-ups (9.97%). Of the total, 40.20% of accidents occurred on roads of the Highway Department and 34.88% on roads under the jurisdiction of tambon administration organisations. The majority, 83.72%, happened on straight roads.
Khon Kaen registered the highest number of accidents (14).
Khon Kaen and Nakhon Si Thammarat reported most injuries (12 each). The province with most road deaths was Nakhon Ratchasima (4).
There were 1,902 main safety checkpoints in operation, manned by 56,343 officials, throughout the country.
A total of 400,646 vehicles were pulled over for safety checks and 72,886 drivers were charged – 20,731 for not having a licence and 20,136 for not wearing a safety helmet while riding a motorcycle.
The accumulated figures for the past two days (April 11-12) were 538 accidents with 73 killed and 530 injured.
